Outsmarted!

Ouch. I’ve been outsmarted by a chicken!

The little bantam . . all she can think about these days is hatching babies. I let her hatch some, thinking that would get it out of her system but no . . she’s trying to do it again. She’s mean as a snake when she’s trying to sit on eggs and almost every time I try to get eggs from her, she draws blood. My hand looks like I’m one of those people who injure themselves .. tiny little cuts all over it.

I’ve gotten better though. I can grab her right at the end of her back and she can’t quite reach me there. I move her and get any eggs she might be sitting on. I do that 3 or 4 times per day so the eggs don’t have time to begin incubating before I snag them.

She would sometimes move from nest to nest. There are 8 nesting boxes and I’m never quite sure where she’ll be. 

Saturday I went out and she wasn’t in any of the nesting boxes. First time that’s happened in weeks. I thought . . Good! I won and she know I’m not going to let her hatch eggs so she’s given up. By Saturday evening, I hadn’t gotten any eggs and I thought that was weird but I was busy and didn’t think much about it. Yesterday .. no eggs! Then I thought . . where is that little chicken? Can’t find her anywhere. Sunday . . no eggs. Monday . . no eggs. Every day that I don’t get eggs from almost 20 hens . . that’s one day closer to a big pot of juicy, fresh chicken and dumplings!

Little Bantam Hen didn’t give up . . she just moved to where I can’t find her and she’s convinced all the other hens to lay in her nest. That’s loyalty for you! I feed them, I water them. I keep them safe and yet Little Bantam Hen says “Come lay in MY nest!” and they abandon me . . not even one egg per day. I’m going to have to buy eggs at this rate. Buying eggs the same time I’m feeding all those chickens just doesn’t seem right, does it?

I asked Vince to go out and help me find her. He said “Just leave her alone!” (which is Vince for . . I’m watching TV and a chicken is the last time I’m worried about!)

Yes . . . leaving her a lone is a great idea til she shows up one day with 20 baby chicks and our chicken population has doubled.

I looked in all her usual hiding spots. Under the agarita bushes. No chicken and no nest.

Under the pomegranate. No chicken and no nest!

I asked the other chickens . . no one is talking!

They act like they don’t even know who I’m asking about . . and they probably don’t . . because chickens aren’t very smart which makes it even worse that I’ve been outsmarted by a little bantam hen!