There have been some changes in the flock quite recently, and I’ve been keeping an eye on the mystery nest in the old greenhouse.

Nutters, and sometimes Oregano have picked up a night time post bed trick: hide in some hard to access or sneak up on place until everyone else (namely the 5 roosters) have gone to bed and settled down. Once she thinks they’re settled, and/or you can’t wait any later because it’s getting late, RUN RUN RUN (and a streaking chicken is a thing of beauty) into the coop and hope she can roost unharassed, and none of the boys decide she looks attractive. Sometimes this ploy works, sometimes it doesn’t.  On the 11th, I went to take pictures and collect eggs, and turns out today, Nutters was hiding in the egg barrel.  I’m pretty sure she wasn’t going broody, or even laying an egg, but she did come out at speed and hid in the shrubbery after I took the picture.  For some reason, Pixie laid an egg on the floor of the coop (which got a good cleaning earlier in the day–the coop not the egg).

April 12, 2017 includes pictures from inside the coop.  I took down the inside plastic layer because it’s been so warm lately, plus the chickens had put it through so many beatings it was getting pretty ratty anyway.  Lacy is still laying occasionally in the back barrel.

Today the sun angle on the eggs in the basket, and I noticed yet again that the eggs have tiny pores in the shells.  So I tried to take some pictures of them.  Different eggs have different pores, and I think some of that may have to do with the brown color being added late in the process of the egg being made in the chicken, so maybe it covers and smooths the pores to different degrees.

Left to Right: Mac N Cheese, Tandori (Tanduri?) and Not Mac N Cheese.

April 13 I was pretty busy so we only got a collection basket picture.  April 14 (yes, I got the date written wrong in the picture, I wrote the 15th) I got pictures of eggs where they were laid, as well as made sure I got a few special pictures of certain chickens.  I made sure to get pictures of General Tso (Tsao? I can’t remember how Ryan spells it!), and Not Mac N Cheese.  The General, known for selling “Squawk Insurance” is one of Pixies brood from last year, and I’m pretty sure he’s the only one from one of her eggs. He’s the sort of marmalade and cream colored one in the pictures above.  Not Mac N Cheese was also hatched last year, exact egg unknown, but not Oregano’s, because that egg produced Tandori (Tanduri… Ryan I just don’t know how that chicken dish is spelled either! They’re both too spicy for my tastes I’m sure anyway).  Speaking of anyway, Anyway, Not Mac N Cheese is in the pictures above, the picture of three chickens shows Mac N Cheese (black with spangled chest, white head) on the left, Tando(u?)ri, the ginger colored hen in the middle (who has been fortold), and Not Mac N Cheese is the white headed rooster with a sort of cookies and cream colored chest who is looking down.

Following below is a picture of Noodles, which is one reason that I took the pictures of the two roosters… I’m thinking some of you can figure where this is going.  Noodles is sporting the bald back of a hen who’s too popular with the roosters, especially roosters with too much competition in the form of other roosters.  Also included with Noodles is a few pictures of the mystery nest, which I’m pretty sure is an American Robin nest.  Suddenly it has two beautiful blue eggs in it… one day I might have a hen that lays eggs that blue!!

Noodles with feather damage from too much rooster business.

And I slept really poorly on Friday night (the 14th to the 15th)… knowing I had to get up early so I could sneak into the coop and snatch two specific roosters so I could … well, anyway, they would be tasting pretty good later in the day, and hopefully the flock would have a lot less of the egregious and competition/prove-how-big-your-giblets-are rooster business.

Gizmo with nictitating membranes closed (inner eyelids)

So those are most of the pictures from April 15th (yes, actually the 15h time), and here are a few other pictures, including what I saw when I peeked into the American Robin nest for an update.

Echo
General Tso (Tsao?) and Not Mac N Cheese, April 15 2017

I was harassed by Echo for some attention, dismayed to find my assessment of the nest being in a far to accessible location correct, and kept busy by cooking all that chicken for now and for leftovers and to share.  I have to say, all 4 cats and both dogs were definitely INTERESTED in the cooking and carcass picking process.

Well, I think that’s all I have for Egg-A-Day for now.  Thanks for visiting!