Egg eater

​

We've had some good days, collecting a full basket of eggs, and other days when the nesting boxes are empty. It looks like our egg eater is still at it. Now the task is to identify the culprit, tag her, and if the behavior doesn’t correct soon, isolate her, or ultimately cull her from the flock. It sounds mean, but order in the henhouse has to be maintained.

My girls are generously fed and well cared for, so there’s really no excuse for this behavior. I had hoped my ceramic eggs and the egg filled with mustard would dissuade her from eating the freshly laid eggs, but that darn chicken seems determined to keep at it. With glimpses of spring in the air and the longer days already here, egg production will soon be picking up. I’d better nip this in the bud before the habit spreads to the other hens.

Before I axe her, I’ll add more calcium to their diet, hoping she’s doing it due to a deficiency. Crushed oyster shells are going back into the rotation with their feed.

Oh, the troubles we have. Who knew this would be my focus this week, with so much on my plate in other areas? I’ll be giving my first conference presentation soon, speaking for an hour in a room full of strangers, but somehow that hasn’t taken up half the space in my mind as this darn chicken.

So with a super busy day ahead, I’ll be stopping by the feed store to buy oyster shells and mealworms for my feathered friends, and special treats for my cat so that while I’m away, they can still be spoiled.

After a long day, I spoiled myself by meeting friends for oysters and cocktails. The first oysters of the season always taste the best. The three of us sat chatting endlessly, the perfect ending to a long week… although with a busy weekend ahead I won't get a real day off for a while. It happens now and then, and the mess in my house always creeps up the busier I am. But busy is good, and life is always better when it’s shared with great people.

And somewhere between preparing for presentations, running errands, and catching up with friends, I’ll be keeping an eye on those nesting boxes. Life has a funny way of balancing the big moments with the small, everyday mysteries.....like figuring out which hen can’t resist an egg. One way or another, we’ll sort it out. Such is life in the henhouse.

“Ordinary people think merely of spending time; great people think of using it.” ~ Arthur Schopenhauer