Lost and Found

All has been well with the chickens.  We have been averaging about 10 eggs a day and even had one 13-egg day.  The containment of the chickens to their side of the fence has proven to be a complete failure.  They continue to walk around, poke through, and jump over.  We have given up for now as the only solution will be a properly constructed fence that runs all the way down the hill and we don't have the time or energy for that right now.  So, now I have to leave the gate slightly open so that they can find their way back to the coop to lay their eggs, as they can't seem to manage to go back the way they came.

The issue with the chickens laying in random nests in the woods has taken care of itself.  The rains finally hit a few weeks ago, and we gradually started seeing more eggs in the coop.  Getting 11 or 12 eggs a day with only 14 chickens, we figured we pretty much had them all laying inside.  I guess they prefer not to lay in the rain.  Fine by us.  Our nesting boxes have been halfway successful.  We built four - two stacks of two.  While they used to sit in all of them and even on top, they have not laid any eggs in the upper two boxes.  Instead after placing a bale of hay in the coop to use as bedding, they promptly started laying in the corner behind it and then on the floor in the corner right next to the nesting boxes, and then in the two lower boxes.  So I guess four is the right number, but maybe access to the upper two is too hard.

The sad news, however is that one day about two weeks ago, in putting the chickens away for the night, we only counted 13.  She was nowhere to be found in the immediate vicinity of the coop (as they sometimes are....waiting to be carried in), so we gave it a day.  And another day.  Finally we gave up hoping and wrote her off to a random predator, making the count 13.

Until yesterday.  Yesterday Keith comes in and says, "You have to go look at the chickens.".  So I walk out and stare at the chickens eating their scratch and say, "What?  I don't see anything.".
"Keep looking".
"That one has some chicken scratch on her back, but that is nothing new."
"Keep looking."
"...........I'm going back in."
"Keep looking."
"She's back!  We have all three black ones!"

That's right, the missing chicken came back.  But it was very interesting because the other chickens were being very mean to her and treating her like an outsider.  They were pecking at her and chasing her away from the food.  We were happy to see her back, but alas, it did not last.  When we did the chicken count at the end of the day, she was gone again.  Didn't see her today either.  They do say that some chickens "get broody", which means they make their own nest and sit on their eggs, trying to hatch their babies.  Kind of sad really - she's been out there in the rain for weeks waiting for her babies to hatch.  Or it just emphasizes the brain capacity of a chicken. After they've gone broody, they will not lay eggs again for a long time.  So we have a bit of a choice to make - catch her and lock her up for a while hoping she turns back to the ways we desire, or......well maybe you wouldn't like the other option.  We'll do some searching for her nest and see what we come up with. 

In the stat department, we have received over 500 eggs now (517 to be exact).  The cost of an egg is down to $1.52, making it $16.85/dozen.