Buttons nest

I could not figure out why Button was not laying eggs. After Snap was killed, no more eggs appeared in the nest box. Yesterday the dog was on the back porch with an egg between her legs. Unbroken. I took it from her and watched her, and of course she went back to grab another one. It was under the Hosta Plants off the back porch, I pulled back the leaves and there was Button sitting on the nest. I slipped the egg back under her. Right now she is just laying an egg a day. There is 12 eggs today. I hope she sits soon. it takes 25 to 29 days to incubate. I need her to start so that the chicks hatch out before we leave for 4th of july vacation. Then I will have to pen her and the chicks up so nothing happens to them or take them and put them in a brooder. here is the nest.

FIRST EGG

This is the very first egg from Snap. She started laying in mid April. she is the grey and white bird next to Crickit. They get along really good with the dog, in fact they chase the dog sometimes and flog her. Crickit is wary of the male bird Zip, he really chases her.

Snap was killed

My egg laying hen Snap was hit by a car Friday night. May 18. They all go down by the road and I have caught the other two across the road. When I yell for them, they come running back, but I never saw Snap cross the road. She was just getting around good from a hurt leg and she was eating out of my hand. She would come up to the screen door and stand until I gave her bread or corn. All I can think is she was along the edge of the road eating gravel and someone swerved to hit her. She was in the grass dead. She was laying eggs in the nest box too. I will miss her.

Some of the funny things they do. They run to follow me or the dog. If I drive in and stop for the mail they run down the driveway towards me. If I leave they follow the truck and we have to hurry out the driveway or if Craig is here he calls them back.  Last night was a good one. One bird roosting on the porch rail, I could not find the other 2. Then I heard a plunk, plunk above my head. I walked out in the yard and the other 2 were on the porch roof.  every step they took made a noise. Button was on the tail and fretting about trying to go up on the roof. finally she flew up. They slept there all night.

Now the hardest part. Getting a Jack Russell to NOT kill the Tweeter birds. The new Nick name is tweeter birds. I had to work about a week with her on a leash to train her to not chase them. After carefully watching her she follows them around. We call her the Tweeter herder.  Now when they see big sister come out they run to her squakimg. They actually follow her.

They will not go back into the coop and decided to roost on my porch  posts. If their bomb doors was hanging over the outside of the rail they dropped the bombs in the grass but if over the deck floor they made a mess. I had to line the floor with cardboard. So we decided to move the coop by the deck and out of the woods.

When I did let them lose again, they fell in love with the truck bumper. They keep looking at themselves.