The long-awaited day arrived...probably a few days ago. We've been waiting for Gwen and Isadora, (our hens) who have been roaming the garden for months now. They have come of age, but there have been no eggs to be found.
Gwen did a disappearing act this morning, which was curious. She was nowhere to be found in the yard or the garden until after 11. Did she hop the fence? Did a hawk have her for breakfast? No, she just mysteriously disappeared.
I suspected she had found a place to lay, but it was not in the nest box I built into the chicken tractor and lined so carefully with oat straw. This afternoon I went in search of the elusive eggs.
I suspected a large growth of Pampas Grass at the back corner of the garden, crowded up to the fence. I tried one approach and found only minor indentations into the body of the planting. On the other side, I inched my way along the fence, past the saw-toothed blades and spotted a path that tunneled into the dense foliage. When I stretched my neck and peered into the tunnel...there they were! Ten perfect light blue eggs in a cozy bed of brown Pampas straw. (Let me explain...our chickens are Americanas...they lay beautiful blue eggs)
I am so proud! And so happy. I am high on the wonder of life in it's natural state. Who cares that they don't like my nest boxes. This is what I wanted from my bug control program.
I've been grinning ever since the marvelous find, and cannot wait for tomorrow morning's breakfast.