Sunday 18 October 2015

A Present for the Farmer.

Our ten new hens have settled in well.   They are now out and about, roaming the fields around the farm, scratching for and eating beetles and worms.   They come back at dusk and go into the hen house and although they are together with my old hens all day in the fields they still go to bed on their own side of the hut even though the door between is left open.

They are now using the perch at night and laying in the nest boxes - nine of the ten are now laying - so we were happy in the knowledge that they were 'at home' here.

So imagine the farmer's surprise this morning as he went to get on his tractor.   (He had already let the hens out and fed and watered them).   As he walked towards the door of his tractor he heard that particular cackling which means *I have just laid an egg* and there, on his tractor seat, were two deep brown pullet eggs - both still warm.

He came in with them in his hand chuntering that the 'flippin' hens had started laying away.   I had to remind him that hens have small brains and that embedded in these brains deeper than anything else is the phrase 'propagation of the species'.   In other words try laying your eggs somewhere where the man with the egg basket is not going to find them.

Mind you, I did say they had small brains - the tractor seat is hardly a place where he is not likely to find them - more likely to sit on them I would have thought.   However, he has told them in no uncertain terms that once more and they will be left in in a morning until they have learned their 'nest box lesson'.

We did once have an old hen - one who loved to nurture chicks - who went away and we presumed the fox had got her until one day she turned up with a flock of chicks behind her - she had hidden her eggs in the hedge bottom and hatched them off there.

20 comments:

Midmarsh John said...

At least the eggs were easy to see and gather.

coffeeontheporchwithme said...

I love that they laid on the tractor seat! Almost like a present. Our silly hens tended to all lay in one nesting box, often crowding two hens in there at a time. -Jenn

Rachel Phillips said...

Lucky for the farmer he didn't swing into his cab and sit on them.

thelma said...

Funnily enough, of the three nesting boxes in my coop, all the hen's eggs get laid in one, don't know how they manage it...

angryparsnip said...

Enjoying the chicken updates.
Maybe the eggs where just a nice Thank You for the Farmer.

cheers, parsnip

Robin Mac said...

Hens really are silly, but the story certainly made me chuckle.

Joanne Noragon said...

And then she brought them home to show off to the nice people in the big house.

Dawn said...

This made me giggle and somehow the film Chicken Run came to mind :-)

John Going Gently said...

They never lay where you want them to....i found 43 once under a hedge x

Thickethouse.wordpress said...

At the farms I visited as a child, they were always watching out for a broody hen and trying to see where she was hiding her eggs.

Barbara said...

Great story!
...and I am really glad the Farmer discovered the eggs BEFORE he sat on the tractor seat!

Simon Douglas Thompson said...

I loved reading that and I'm wondering where else you might find eggs in odd places...satellite dishes, laid down chimneys while you are sat watching television.

To quote aforementioned "Choken Run"

"Eggs...from heaven"

"No....from her bum"

donna baker said...

The same thing happened many times on my farm. Sadly, we just gave our flock away since a move is in the offing. The people that took them said two have up and died and another looks sickly. They keep theirs up in a chicken yard and don't let them free range. I hope they aren't dying of broken hearts ending up at a strange place.

Cro Magnon said...

We used to have a big old stone barn where the hens would lay all over the place, occasionally appearing with a dozen chicks behind them. Always a surprise.

John "By Stargoose And Hanglands" said...

A lovely read which sent me back to visit my five-year-old self who was often sent off around the farm to find the places where our free-range hens had decided to lay their eggs. The tractor shed was fairly popular though never found any on the tractor seat.

Heather said...

A nice treat for the farmer. That old hen didn't have such a small brain after all!

Anonymous said...

This has taken me back years. Our chooks when I was growing up would change where they laid so we'd often find a clutch of twenty hidden among the hay. I also knew someone whose chicken would sit in an egg basket on her dresser and lay an egg in there :o)

Gwil W said...

Ten New Hens.

Great title for a children's story book!

The Weaver of Grass said...

Lots of lovely stories. Glad I brought back so many memories to youall.

Terry and Linda said...

Sometimes I think YOU need to write a childrens book!

Linda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com