Feathered Friday: Boo-boo Lays an Egg

This Wednesday I cleaned out Boo-boo's coop.  At first, she hung out on top of the nesting boxes while I forked dirty straw and shavings in to the wheel barrow.  But when I broke out the shovel and the dust started getting a little crazy, I put out the pop door.  And there she stood, undecided as to whether to go out to the run or come back in to see what the heck I was doing to her home.

At one point she did come back in and flew up to the nesting boxes.  The boxes were empty, so she went in each one and turned around, making her little hen noises at me.  Being as inept as I am with foreign languages, I am the furthest thing from an expert in chicken talk.  I think I understand when she is happy with me, or saying hello, or other such pleasantries, but this time she was definitely yelling at me.  Or, at least expressing her displeasure with what I was doing.

Then it occurred to me:  She wants to lay her egg now.  This realization sparked both elated curiosity with the desire to learn and a slight annoyance that she would want to do the deed while I was cleaning out the coop.  So I hurried as much as I could through the dust storm.

Once the coop had a nice layer of straw (it's all I had), and the boxes were fluffed. . .

Fresh coop

Fresh coop

. . . Boo-boo made quick work of settling into one.  

Boo-boo in her chosen box.

So I was right.  She wanted to lay her almost-daily egg.  Even after she settled in, she was very busy picking at the straw.  It was fascinating, really.  If I had had the time, I would've sat there and watched the process, taking pictures the whole way through.  Then I would be closer to understanding parts about chicken raising that intrigue me but remain out of reach.  Reading only gets me so far.  The science lover in me--and more specifically, the part that needs to understand animal behavior--needs to see things for itself.  (Myself?  Boy that sounds awkward, there.)

That night, there was a beautiful egg waiting for me in the box Boo-boo had chosen.  She is a good chicken.  I have really grown to love her. 

Chicken love!

I will be taking a hiatus next week to spend time with my boys.  I apologize for the lapse, but I didn't have time to get posts done ahead of time.  See you on the 23rd!