Is your dog's unusual barking a secret code for something mysterious?

[Lorax]

We got our four chooks in September and it's going splendidly. The speckeldy and golden ranger started laying immediately, the bluebelle started laying in December (on the coldest day!). But so far the columbine hasn't laid, as far as we know.

 

She was poorly when we first took her home but made an astonishing recovery. She is the lowest in the pecking order however and we are wondering if she is laying elsewhere? Up until recently her comb was very small and pale - but now it's glorious blousey and red. But still no eggs, at least not in the nesting box?

 

We have a large garden - just under an acre, and they free range all day.

 

Other than following her round is there any way to tell if she is laying/and if so where? The others all lay in the nesting box.

 

I have looked in obvious places, but our garden has tons of hidey holes so it's a bit of a needle/haystack situation.

 

Thoughts/advice? TIA.

[Daphne]

Is she crouching when you go near her? If she is then thats a very reliable sign she is in lay, otherwise it sounds like she is close to it, but that phase can on for a few weeks, particularly with the hiss and miss weather/light!

 

Regarding finding other laying spots, the usual candidates are in darkish, smallish spaces but really it could be anywhere. Its only happened to me once, and the only way I ever found out was by spending a lot of time in the garden keeping an eye on the bird. She liked to get under the henhouse to lay, which I would have thought was a physical impossibility - a LF orpington who managed to get through a 5" gap She sat right in the middle and as I'm not equipped with long enough arms it was certainly impossible for me to get the eggs out! But then she'd also lay near various tussocks of grass so not well hidden at all. I used to pick her up if I found her in time and lug her back to the nesting box. This particular bird was always going broody; I never knew if the two things were connected -her hoping I'd never find the eggs!

[Lorax]

Thanks Daphne. Well what do you know....this afternoon I looked in one of the places she seemed to be 'nesting' in the other day and there was what I THINK is her first very pale blue egg! I wonder if she'll now always lay outside the box...