Chicks Behind Bars

Pic: Maggie, the unrepentant egg-stealer.
At least she doesn't eat the hens. 

Over the Summer the chickens, one by one, started laying eggs in secret places outside of the coop. Maybe there were too many broody hens taking up the favorite laying boxes over the past few months. Maybe they started laying eggs elsewhere due to the stress of the heat. All I knew was there were less and less eggs to sell through the co-op, and Maggie's coat was getting softer and sleeker (she has a keen nose for finding errant eggs... and eating them). As of the past few weeks, I've been lucky to get three eggs a day from 25 laying hens, when closer to a dozen is the norm. Hrmm.

We've been waiting for the weather pattern to change to consistently cooler temps, and it's finally done so. At dusk last night, after the chickens were all snug roosting inside the coop, Spouse & I stealthily erected a temporary fence around the chicken coop. By fencing in the chickens for a few days, it should retrain the chickens to use the nesting boxes instead of their favorite hidey-holes.

This morning's reaction to the fence situation? Let the photo speak for itself:

Unamused, I think it may be safe to say. I'll let them out to run around after 2:00PM, so they won't be cooped up all day - just long enough so they'll have to uncross their legs and lay an egg in the proper location.