I found an egg under the roost with no shell again. It doesn’t happen often, but it has happened multiple times since they started laying. The egg membrane is intact, so it is possible to pick up, but it certainly has an interesting texture, much like an egg that has been soaked in vinegar to remove the shell, but without the bouncing. I recorded a video to show the squishiness, if you are interested. These eggs typically go to the dogs!
We had a run of rain and once again my hens don’t seem to care if they get wet, especially Twilight. Although wet hens do look rather deranged. So “mad as a wet hen” maybe isn’t anger but crazy?
Magic had been up and putting weight on her leg, so we decided to let her down with the flock for a bit to get some time out of isolation. She immediately had a dust bath in every usual spot. Such a dusty hen! We observed her for while, but when it was obvious that she could get around well, and wasn’t being picked on (quite the opposite actually), we left her out for awhile. When I went to put the hens up for the night, I really expected her to be on the ground somewhere, but she was up on the roost with her girls! So she stayed out of birdie jail. She is still limping, and I wonder if it will be a permanent limp, but there is no reason to keep her cooped up (haha) if she can get around just fine and isn’t showing signs of disease, especially with our temperatures starting to soar.
The hens periodically make alarm sounds, but by the time I get out to the coop, there is nothing to be seen. This time I saw Sophie the cat stalk by the coop and hide under some cardboard. No wonder the hens freak. (I use the card board on the path to give traction when it is muddy, until I get some decomposed granite.)
Hiding under the cardboard is immensely cute, but I can see how it would upset the chickens!
Taco is a strange bird. Well, her name is Taco. She is the least people friendly and the hardest to catch. When we sit in the coop, she is usually the farthest away. I caught this picture of her taking a nap as my youngest and I hung out with the flock for a bit. With her tail feathers nearly straight up in the air. The others settle with tail feathers up as well, but not nearly to that extreme angle.
Critters and Craft 