Discovering A Hidden Nest

 

Tricia texted me this morning as I was driving to my first stop.  For safety, I pressed the button and the vehicle will read the text to you.  The text read as follows:

"So I don't forget to tell you, there is a next full of eggs in the goat barn.  I know what chicken it is.  It's the Aracauna hen that used to be in the chicken tractor - the black and white one that used to get into the garden."

Let me back up and explain the context of this text.  Our goat barn is just to the east of our milking barn.  The photo above shows the hidden nest my wife found right in the corner and yes, they are blue eggs, which are indicative of Aracaunas.  You can also see in that photo the large cracks in the earth from our drought.

As we move toward shorter days, the egg production from the hens drops off pretty significantly.  This hidden nest accounts for some of the reduction in eggs we pick up.  There's a story behind the Aracauna.  That bird along with one other earned the nickname: "the bad little hens."  They are smaller hens than the Barred Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, and Golden Comets.  As a result, they were able to shimmy between the 4x4 fence holes and get into the garden.  They scratched up plants in the garden earning my wrath.  I caught them with a net and kept them in the chicken tractor until I had time to line the entire garden with smaller mesh.  Those two bad little hens cost me a lot of time, but they don't get into the garden anymore.  

One of them found a new way to cause trouble, though.  Rather than laying her eggs in the nesting boxes in the hen house, she found a quiet spot to hide her eggs.  Tricia found them today, but no telling how old they are.  We could test them by putting them in a bucket of water.  If they float, they are bad.  If they sink and stay on the bottom, they are good.  I think we'll test them and go ahead and give them to Belle to enjoy.  She likes it when we break an egg over her dog food.  

Fortunately, Tricia discovered the hidden nest.  I'll remember to check in the corner of the goat barn for eggs each day.  Sometimes, it's like an easter egg hunt.