At least by me with my chickens. I have read that other chicken keepers have noticed their hens putting straw or leaves or shavings on their backs before or after laying an egg. This is the first time I’ve seen one of my hens. I think this is Sunrise. She has a yellow band and a green band on her left foot, and a smaller comb. Not very effective camouflage if that was the original advantage, but a very interesting example of gene driven behavior.

By the way, I found Cockatrice on a nest recently, so now all 12 of our hens are laying. We are getting anywhere from 3 to 7 eggs a day, despite the low light hours of winter. Summer egg counts will be interesting.

And it was the last one. I went in for chicken feed and pine shavings and came out with an extra chicken. At least I don’t have to figure out how to integrate this one into the flock. She is a stand alone bird.

I switched to a silicone wedding ring awhile ago to help prevent injuries. But there is something about the gray band on my finger that is irresistible to the chickens and they frequently try to take it. (Once one even succeeded and I had to chase her down to get it back!) This is the first time I’ve sustained injury from a ring stealing attempt though. I think I will try a different band and see if a different color holds less appeal. Because this HURT.