Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

So our chickens have turned their beaks up at the nest boxes we've provided and have been laying their eggs all over the property. We know where the main nests are, but we realized we'd been missing the 6 newest girls' eggs for the last few days. These are the 6 (there were 7 before the un-trappable 'coon attacks - more about that later) Speckles look-alikes that we got back in February-ish. They lay beautiful, big dark brown eggs. We decided to watch where they ran off to yesterday morning after letting them out. Normally we let them out and then go do other chores..but we weren't letting them sneak off this time. 

Right off the bat, 2 of them booked it for the road. Yep, that's right. They went all the way through the grass, down the driveway, under the gate (squeezed under the gate) and into the woods across the street. They were running in that hilarious way that only chickens can. 

So many spots to lay eggs on our farm...and they cross this?? Good thing it isn't a busy road. Right next to our "eggs from free-range chickens" sign, too. Sheesh. Talk about free-range.

Spot the hidden forest eggs:

Okay, so that's 5 days of laying from those 2 hens (assuming it was only those 2 using that nest). Now the trick is getting them to love their nest boxes! We put them higher up and this morning they seemed to be enjoying the view and laying their eggs up there.

While I followed them across the road, Nathan followed another into the reeds next to the pond. We found another handful of eggs deep in the brush there. 

Oh and did I mention that one of the favourite hidden nests is in with Thomas?? Do they know we can't easily go in there? Sneaky sneaky hens!

As we finished the rest of the chores, I thought I saw another one of those hens run into the house. There is one in particular who tries as hard as she can to get in there - we've found her pecking around in the kitchen, the living room...we were standing and talking in the kitchen the other day and I thought my parents' dog Lucy was by my feet. Nope - it was that hen, just standing there while we chatted! 

Anyway, I went inside to get changed for work and didn't see the hen. Then, while I was getting dressed I heard a funny noise from inside the closet.

She made a nest on Nathan's suitcase!

I grabbed her to bring her to the nest boxes but I guess I didn't catch her on time...the egg fell out while I was running her back onto the farm and right in front of Ryan. I think he thought it was delivered to him from the heavens.

Speaking of Ryan and food, I have no recent photos of him because he is *too fat for photos!* and it's embarrassing. He has been eating all of the broiler grower food that he finds on the ground and he is ballooning into obese Border Collie land. How am I supposed to train him to do all these athletic things for my dog training course when he's a fatty boombah? 

 Luckily, the girls would never let their figures go.

We've been discovering some lovely hikes around town.

Zoey's ears have decided that one up one down is how they'll stay. She gets spayed tomorrow...

She loves to play ball now instead of just running when the other dogs run.

Other than her strange sock obsession, she's a really good puppy. In the last few weeks she started hoarding socks...she will go look for one, take it to her bed, cuddle it and growl ferociously at any dog who dares look at it. Sometimes, it all gets to be too much and she'll take it outside and bury it. Hrm. I'm wondering if her hormones are kicking in and these are her sock babies? Whatever the cause, it isn't a behaviour that we enjoy very much! Abby and Ryan look at her like she's crazy when she guards socks from them - they don't want any stinky old socks. 

We got some hay for the sheep and goats since our pastures need a bit of rejuvenation. They went nuts for this stuff. Oprah's wool really is falling out, I swear!

Magpie's twin's 4 chicks are doing well and are super cute. Magpie's chicks are all grown up and I think 3 out of 5 may be roosters...we shall see...

We've been trying to trap the raccoon so that we can relocate the bugger. I realize that another raccoon might very well take his place, but after we spotted this guy in the cherry tree in daylight twice, and knowing that he is a Speckles killer, I'd rather he go. The problem is that he is proving to be un-trappable! We have set the trap for the last 5 night and somehow the trap gets tripped, the food is sometimes gone or half gone, and no raccoon. We need to set up a night vision camera!