So this is about an hour and a half later than my usual blogging time and for that I am sorry. I got a piece of work away to a client so decided to celebrate by doing a bit of yoga. I would like to say I feel a lot better for it, I am acutely aware of my calves, but the real test will be my ability to sleep without really weird dreams tonight.
I think I have mentioned that we were adopted by a bantam just before Christmas. She is very pretty but quite unapproachable, so doesn't live with the four normal sized chickens. Once we got to February, she started to lay eggs, little white ones. The first clutch we found were in the shed, hidden behind an old jerrycan. She laid one egg in the chicken coop when the others were out and about trashing the garden. John set her up with a wheelbarrow and a grass collector from a dead lawnmower filled with straw which she used a couple of times. What she doesn't like, is that when we find her stashes, we take the eggs. She doesn't do sharing.
Since mid-March we haven't seen any of her eggs - we thought she might be laying them in a neighbouring garden. It's a bit rough on us as we feed her and provide water, and as there aren't any bantam cockerels around, the eggs shouldn't do anything. About 10 days ago, we stopped seeing her, other than an occasional and very loud visit once day - she had clearly got enough eggs to brood. And she's not a nice broody either - if spotted by us or one of the other chickens she has an awful lot to say. I don't speak chicken but I don't think any of it is polite.
Yesterday I was pottering in the shed when I spotted a bit of a mess. On closer inspection, it was dried egg yolk and nearby there were egg shells and a couple of whole eggs. There were also tins of wood stain and wood polish scattered around, which should be on the top shelf....
I looked up and around at some of the shelves, and finally I spotted her. But I tried not to make eye contact, so that we know where she is for a while. There is very little you can do about a broody chicken or bantam.
The other chickens are doing fine - here is a photo of two of them clearing weeds out of a raised bed.
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