Our three hens finally solved a mystery for us yesterday. But one question remains unanswered.
Snow, Nellie and Hope took the winter off in the laying department. Nothing unusual there. Then the first egg of the new year showed up on March 11. We knew it was Nellie’s handiwork, because I spotted her in the nest box while she was doing the deed.
More eggs turned up as the month progressed, sometimes at the rate of two per day, meaning at least two of the hens were laying again. All of the eggs were similar in size, which suggested that all of them came from Nellie and Hope, our Rhode Island Reds. Snow, a Plymouth Rock, has always laid very large eggs, and none of these was big enough to carry her signature.
But a key fact argued against "the Reds" being the responsible parties. Hope stopped laying last June. At first we thought she might be sick, but she’s been acting normally in all other respects. Egg production slows down as hens age and may stop entirely; even though Hope is only four years old, we finally chalked up her behavior to early retirement.
So we had a mystery on our hands. This year’s eggs were too numerous to be the work of only one hen. But none of the eggs was large enough to be Snow’s doing. Yet Hope called it quits a long time ago. How to explain what was going on?
Yesterday, "the girls" provided an answer. Three eggs materialized in the nest box. Hope hadn't retired after all. She'd been on sabbatical from June into March, when she finally rejoined the workforce. And now Snow was back on the job as well, with her Texas-sized offerings. Three eggs. Three chickens. All of the hens were laying once again.
But as I said at the outset, one mystery remains. Why did Hope stop laying for nine consecutive months or so, only to start up again after a hiatus that was so long it stretched through three seasons? I have no idea. In five years of keeping chickens, we’ve never encountered this before. My research has turned up no answers.
Giorgio Morandi, an Italian artist, once said: “Everything is a mystery, ourselves, and all things both simple and humble.” Perhaps Hope is a case in point.
Snow, Nellie and Hope took the winter off in the laying department. Nothing unusual there. Then the first egg of the new year showed up on March 11. We knew it was Nellie’s handiwork, because I spotted her in the nest box while she was doing the deed.
More eggs turned up as the month progressed, sometimes at the rate of two per day, meaning at least two of the hens were laying again. All of the eggs were similar in size, which suggested that all of them came from Nellie and Hope, our Rhode Island Reds. Snow, a Plymouth Rock, has always laid very large eggs, and none of these was big enough to carry her signature.
But a key fact argued against "the Reds" being the responsible parties. Hope stopped laying last June. At first we thought she might be sick, but she’s been acting normally in all other respects. Egg production slows down as hens age and may stop entirely; even though Hope is only four years old, we finally chalked up her behavior to early retirement.
So we had a mystery on our hands. This year’s eggs were too numerous to be the work of only one hen. But none of the eggs was large enough to be Snow’s doing. Yet Hope called it quits a long time ago. How to explain what was going on?
Yesterday, "the girls" provided an answer. Three eggs materialized in the nest box. Hope hadn't retired after all. She'd been on sabbatical from June into March, when she finally rejoined the workforce. And now Snow was back on the job as well, with her Texas-sized offerings. Three eggs. Three chickens. All of the hens were laying once again.
But as I said at the outset, one mystery remains. Why did Hope stop laying for nine consecutive months or so, only to start up again after a hiatus that was so long it stretched through three seasons? I have no idea. In five years of keeping chickens, we’ve never encountered this before. My research has turned up no answers.
Giorgio Morandi, an Italian artist, once said: “Everything is a mystery, ourselves, and all things both simple and humble.” Perhaps Hope is a case in point.
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