Our chooks are now all free-ranging during the day, and while this has its positives (the eggs we collect have gorgeous bright yellow yolks, and they obviously enjoy scratching in the gravel or in the grass for tasty tidbits) we had started to notice a drop off in production.
It would seem that isn't what has actually happened; our ladies have simply started laying them in their places of choice, as opposed to in the nesting boxes in the barn.
This afternoon I discovered a stash of at least fifteen eggs after tracking down the familiar bok-bok-bokkaahh, bok, bok, bokkaaah of a hen doing her laying business. Yep, there she was, nesting under Freckles little outdoor pen. I should of known by the expression on Freckles face which plainly read "get this goddamn silly chicken out from underneath my house before I'm forced to use these horns!"
There's also another egg-laying hotspot in the woodpile, which Dad come across last week. So all in all, our chooks are back in business.
Miss 9.1 was given the job of checking them all (if they float, they're no good), then cleaning them. Today's official eggyness count from all sources? 35.
We are egged out, once more.
Oh hurrah! Quiche time!