Wednesday, September 30, 2015

A leg up

This morning in the barn I noticed a hen perched on the rung of a ladder.


This ladder is placed where it is so I can get into this space between hay bales.



The reason I need to get to this space between the hay bales is because it's the latest "hot spot" for laying. But I didn't realize the hens used the ladder to get themselves six feet up. They're cleverer than I thought.


I hadn't checked this spot for a few days, and evidently a lot more hens than I thought were laying in it. They'd spilled over into two areas.


Total: 16 whole eggs plus a broken one.


Just a little slice of life on the Lewis homestead.

11 comments:

  1. Oh man, ours do that too! I just figure out where the "new" place is and then they find another favorite spot.

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  2. This makes me jealous, as our chickens have stopped laying this summer due to molting and high temps. The ducks continue to be great every day layers, though!

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  3. Hi Patrice, You probably know this already but it was new to me... If you find yourself with too many eggs, I have recently found out that you can freeze the eggs. I did a quick test (scramble-freeze overnight-thaw) to see if it really worked and if they were good enough to eat when thawed - they were great. They are ready to use in recipes or to scramble. I now have no hesitation whatsoever to freeze our eggs when we have too many.

    God Bless,
    Janet in MA

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  4. I'm curious - how did you find that spot? Are you always on the lookout for where they are laying?

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    1. That's exactly it. I regularly investigate any "nooks" for the latest laying spot. If it's especially good, I put a one or two wooden eggs to encourage them to keep laying there.

      - Patrice

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  5. LOL! The fake egg...I guffawed over that one!

    I was going to ask the same question - how did you ever find that spot. But the previous commenter beat me to it.

    This was my laugh of the day.

    Just Me

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  6. That chicken is one of those 'hoarders' that the government warns us about. If you see something...
    Montana Guy

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    1. Ha ha ha!!!!! You totally cracked me up!!!! Seriously, my chickens have been watching me paint my outside buildings for the past 6 weeks and they are fascinated by the ladder. I didn't put 2+2 together until I read Patrice's post.

      God Bless,
      Janet in MA

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    2. If you see something, eat it or preserve it?

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  7. Looks like a perfect nest box to me! You know how chickens always want what the others have. I've seen 2 chickens crowded into a nest box while there was a perfectly good empty box right beside them, but no, there is always that "preferred" one. Now they have plenty of room! Guess the ladder has to stay put :)

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  8. I know I sound like a broken record (I keep suggesting you take up writing children's books) but The Rooster Missing a Doodle practically writes itself. Write it; I'll buy it. :-)

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