Ok, here’s the mystery. We have seven hens laying now. We were getting four eggs a day consistently and anxious for the day we would get five or six eggs! Suddenly last week we started having days where we got only two or three eggs. What was going on, we wondered? Maybe it was an organized strike in protest of some perceived wrongdoing on our part. I did slip them some instant oatmeal one morning in place of their usual steel cut oats, cooked fresh with half and half and served warm. We have been aware recently of organized meetings beside the goat barn around noon. Union talks perhaps? Notice how they acted when caught in the act. Just look at Ethel. She’s up to something.
And Oprah, that’s a whole other subject…She’s definitely up to something.
So, anyway, that’s the mystery. Organized work stoppage, poor egg production, possibly in protest of working conditions
Now for the today’s miracle….Banning learned a new trick.
“GIMME FIVE!” He did it over and over and over again!
We were so happy we danced.
Good boy Banning!
Now on to the mayhem…We went down to feed the goats this afternoon. It was a better egg production day, but we still only got five this morning. I was hoping for six. I stopped by the chicken coop to check the nesting boxes for eggs. Nothing! Drat. Oh well, on to the barn to feed the goats. I reached up into the hay loft to pull down some feed and heard the unmistakable “plop” of dropped eggs. I looked down and there were two eggs, broken on the goat bench! They had fallen from the hayloft. Remember last week when I couldn’t find Martha? I think I blogged about fearing she had been lifted into the heavens by a hawk, only to have her scare the holy %#@ out of me by sticking her head out from behind the hay bale when I went to feed the goats.
Well, apparently she has been doing more than playing hide and seek up there. Here is what we found on closer inspection.
She and an unidentified accomplice had laid a total of eight eggs on top of the bale of orchard grass!
So the bad news is…….we had to move the hay from the loft. I doubt this would be considered sufficiently plush for egg laying now, especially for little Miss Martha Stewart.
So here’s the new hay storage.
Gee, I wonder how long it will be before Donovan has the doors off?
So, the bad news is I will be attending the chicken meeting tomorrow and the first topic on the agenda will be the new mandatory use of the nesting boxes.
The good news is…..
WE GOT 13 EGGS TODAY!
Mary says
CindyP
Hehehe!! Martha Stewart’s crafty you know!!! Have you had a complete egg hunting extravaganza now? There could be others in on the plot!
Have a great Sunday, Mary & Michael!
Sunday, March 22, 2009 – 04:12 AM (Originally posted by CindyP)
Mary says
BAD MARTHA!!!!
Holy WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! U Found 8 EGGS!!!!!!! I told you that she was probably laying somewhere else !!!!!! Bad Martha Stewert!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Love, Mandy, Emily and Andrea
Saturday, March 21, 2009 – 11:11 PM (Originally posted by Mandy)