Hen to Door Delivery

Hen to Door

The girls never cease to amaze and amuse me. It seems I will now receive "hen to door" delivery. When milk was delivered fresh to the doorstep, cows could not do this well.

As you may remember, since the murder of a Chessie by a raccoon, I now bring my three remaining hens into the house in a 24" cage each night.

This morning, I set the cage right outside the door as usual, allowing them to exit the cage when they wanted to. All three immediately left.

And then
A few minutes later, I heard a little noise. Figuring a hen had not left the porch, I just hoped she did not poop. Finally, after the incessant, shuffling, scratching, and general disturbance that I could not figure out, I peeked out the door curtain. HA!

Louise was in the cage, furiously scratching, walking, sitting, scratching, and walking around. OVER. AND. OVER. This paper was perfectly smooth after they flew out of the cage. It had a few feathers and a bit of poop, but nothing was shredded or even wrinkled, and the bottom was completely covered. I wondered if she would lay an egg when I saw her apparent nest-making activities.

She did.
I heard her fly out and looked out the door curtain. Surprise! Because of knee/leg pain, I just bent over and took the one picture instead of moving the cage to snap the photo at a better angle.

I know hens will sometimes choose their own place to lay eggs. Sometimes, they will lay eggs under bushes. But, it appears that since they have laid in one place for a year, that they now are identifying my home as their home.  Sweet hens...sigh.