We’ve had a really hot summer. Hotter than any summer I can remember. It has been great for the garden and those of us who prefer the heat. The goats don’t seem to mind it. They certainly like it better than the rain. We think we saw a slight decrease in their milk production but I don’t think we’ve been milking long enough to really know.
We also saw a big decrease in egg production from the chickens. Apparently this is normal. Since our chickens are free range,and we have known them to hide eggs ,we looked around every now and then to see if they were off hiding any eggs, but we never found any. Until Sepember 2.
30 eggs. Yep. 30.
It was sheer luck that Michael noticed a chicken walking down the back side of one of the compost piles and a few eggs that tumbled down behind her. Ah ha! They went to the back side if the compost bin and noticed a hole in the pile. The hole was obvious. What wasn’t obvious was how far back it went. Joshua had to put his whole arm in there to reach the eggs. I guess chickens don’t mind laying an egg in a hot, stifling, dark space.
Once they found that spot they began to search high and low. The dog house for the goats was the next jack pot. Joshua, always willing to climb in small places, found the nest in the back corner.
Multiple layers of eggs.
Not sure how we missed this one right in the girls stall, next to the hay feeder.
All in all we found 30 eggs. We decided to sacrifice a few eggs in hopes of knowing where they are laying. In the past, when we find their stash, we take the eggs and they never lay there again. We left two or three eggs in the compost pile and the dog house. We marked each with a black X so we would know which were old eggs. Hopefully it fools the chickens into thinking their hiding spots have not been found.
We did the float test with the eggs. About half were getting old and the others seemed fresh. I made breakfast for dinner the next night and used the older eggs.
Chickens are confusing to me. On the one hand you can think they are not smart at all. Then on the other hand they sure are good at keeping you guessing.
Have a eggcelent day!
Karen
Dear Karen,
Once again, excellent information. I think we need to go on an egg hunt ourselves. Love the X marking to fool the hens. Love you, and thank you for the work that goes into sharing your acquired wisdom.
Barry and Saundra