Download File

Flo is a serious egg layer. She gives us a fresh egg about 6 days a week. The last egg we found of hers was over a week ago.

I came out to collect the eggs early last week and found Flo in the nesting box on top of Lucy. Dont ask me why, but chickens generally like to lay only where the other chickens have laid. Even with 6 perfectly clean and soft nesting boxes, the girls will only lay in the box on the left.

Usually Flo stands in front of the box and squawks at Lucy while she is laying so I was surprised to see her in the box on top of her. Flo is a pretty big bird so I tried to move her to the next box over but she popped right out and jumped back on top of Lucy.

Look how miserable poor Lucy was. I stayed to make sure that she was okay and not being suffocated by old Flo. Once Flo popped her egg out (narrowly missing Lucys head), she left the box leaving Lucy to lay in peace. As I said, this was over a week ago and that was the last egg weve seen of Flos. Im not sure if shes just stopped laying for some reason or if shes found a new place to lay.

Since its been warming up out here, the girls have been spending most of their time in a shade structure my husband has on the side of our house. It is soft and lush with dichondra and long grass. Its also filled with ladders, coils of wire, and tons of other stuff. I have a feeling she might be laying somewhere in there but I have no clue where. I cant find her eggs anywhere and its making me crazy.

Hopefully she just needed a break and will either start laying again or well find her hidden stash somewhere. Of our 3 chickens, were only getting eggs from Lucy right now (Effie hasnt laid since she molted in the fall). I really dont want to go buy eggs since that is one of the main reasons we have chickens.  Im secretly hoping that the kids will find her eggs during our Easter egg hunt this Sunday.

ETA: We have found the missing eggs. It seems old Flo thought the compost pile was a better place to lay than the nesting boxes in the coop.


Ive got to figure out how to get her to start laying in the coop again. Those eggs will bake in a matter of minutes if she keeps it up in the summer. Silly chicken.