The indoor chicken
Well, she's not exactly an indoor chicken, but she sure could be one!
A few afternoons ago one of the Jersey Giant hens was making such a loud fuss in the yard, walking about grumbling about something. Figuring it was perhaps a stray cat that wandered in and disturbed the birds, I didn't want her to disrupt the neighbors so I caught her up and brought her inside, putting her in a dog kennel with a blanket across the front. The pullet settled in short order, so I left her alone.
After about an hour I thought she was calm enough to go back in the yard. When I uncovered the kennel, the girl was sitting quietly and quite contentedly. Underneath her breast feathers I could see a flash of dark brown. Yep, she had laid an egg. I removed the egg and put her back in the yard, later telling Hubby that the experience must have scared the egg out of her. Since she usually laid her eggs in the morning, this surprised me.
The next day the hen started grumbling again, but this time when she saw me she came right up to me. I picked her up, brought her in the house and back in the kennel she went. And sure enough, about an hour later when I went to check on her there was another egg. Two eggs in as many days, how cool is that?
Yesterday the Jersey girl was grumbling a bit when Hubby went out to tend to his pigeons. She ran towards him clucking, but stopped short, quit clucking and walked away grumbling quietly. When I went out back and the chicken caught sight of me, she came running and squawking quite loudly. Thinking that three days in a row just wasn't going to happen, I picked up the pullet and put her in the by-now rather familiar kennel. Again, she settled in and I left her to her own devices for an hour. And sure enough, when I went to check on her there was ANOTHER egg.
It's amazing how quickly this bird learned about the safe nest in the house, and how she can get herself in it. It also amazes me that she has been laying an egg every other day except for these past three days. It will be interesting to see how long this goes on!
A few afternoons ago one of the Jersey Giant hens was making such a loud fuss in the yard, walking about grumbling about something. Figuring it was perhaps a stray cat that wandered in and disturbed the birds, I didn't want her to disrupt the neighbors so I caught her up and brought her inside, putting her in a dog kennel with a blanket across the front. The pullet settled in short order, so I left her alone.
After about an hour I thought she was calm enough to go back in the yard. When I uncovered the kennel, the girl was sitting quietly and quite contentedly. Underneath her breast feathers I could see a flash of dark brown. Yep, she had laid an egg. I removed the egg and put her back in the yard, later telling Hubby that the experience must have scared the egg out of her. Since she usually laid her eggs in the morning, this surprised me.
The next day the hen started grumbling again, but this time when she saw me she came right up to me. I picked her up, brought her in the house and back in the kennel she went. And sure enough, about an hour later when I went to check on her there was another egg. Two eggs in as many days, how cool is that?
Yesterday the Jersey girl was grumbling a bit when Hubby went out to tend to his pigeons. She ran towards him clucking, but stopped short, quit clucking and walked away grumbling quietly. When I went out back and the chicken caught sight of me, she came running and squawking quite loudly. Thinking that three days in a row just wasn't going to happen, I picked up the pullet and put her in the by-now rather familiar kennel. Again, she settled in and I left her to her own devices for an hour. And sure enough, when I went to check on her there was ANOTHER egg.
It's amazing how quickly this bird learned about the safe nest in the house, and how she can get herself in it. It also amazes me that she has been laying an egg every other day except for these past three days. It will be interesting to see how long this goes on!
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