This morning Honey was spending time on the top of the storage cabinet or on the coop roof. I wasn’t sure if it was because something had spooked her. Occasionally all the girls give the alarm call when one of the neighbourhood cats gets too close, sometimes on the roof of the run.
A little later I heard one of the girls shouting and went to see what the problem was. I was surprised to see that it wasn’t any of the big girls as they were all in the garden area and were quiet. It is usually the big girls that do all the shouting. Honey was stood on the coop roof shouting at the top of her little voice. I first thought that perhaps she had been attacked but as I got closer I could see her looking down at the patio. I looked at the patio where she was looking and there was her broken egg.
She must have been on the coop roof and got caught out again. Her egg must have rolled down the coop and dropped to the patio and smashed open. She was obviously distressed by the egg breaking.
I quickly removed it and mopped up as the other girls came to see what was going on. I kept them away and washed every trace of egg from the patio. This is the first broken egg we have had. It was so fortunate that I was around and came as soon as she called. Any longer and the other girls may have found it and that can lead to egg eating problems.
I reassured Honey that everything was okay (I know they don’t understand my words but I also know my tone of voice gets some sort of message across, the same as theirs does to me) and Honey happily joined the other girls in the garden area. Crisis over!
How lucky that I was there and that I respond to their calls. It reminded me that there is often a reason for them calling out.
In the afternoon when I went in to them, Amber emerged from the coop. I checked the nest box and there was Amber’s egg. I was really pleased that Amber had managed to get hers laid in the nest box, hurrah!
I was surprised that none of the big girls had laid, then something caught my eye just inside the coop door. There was Bluebell’s egg. I have never known Bluebell lay there before. I can only imagine that she hung on until the last minute because of the heat and then laid as soon as she went in. What an eventful egg laying day!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
They never cease to surprise you do they? Just as we think they have it sussed they go and do something out of the ordinary. I am sure that Honey will get the hang of it but then maybe not .It did read like a comic moment I could just imagine her watching it drop down and break and think to herself “All that effort for nothing ”
I was thinking back and remember when our poor Poppy who was PTS a year ago used to lay in the coup and then suddenly she started laying in the gap under the coup .This went on for a couple of weeks and she then went back to normal .
They are funny aren’t they! looking back on yesterday, it was quite comic, the look on Honey’s face as she stared down at her egg and she made no attempt to go down to it.