Wednesday, September 9, 2009

Some deteggtive work and a leave request

I knew for sure that as soon as the chickens started laying eggs I could go back to being a semi-normal person and would no longer have egg-anxiety. Of course I was wrong. Now I am so curious as to who's laying and who's not that I sit around devising plans to catch the hens in the act. I decided to do some detective work today and snuck out to the chicken coop about an hour earlier than usual. I've watched enough episodes of Scooby Doo to know how to sneak, so I was pretty confident in my technique.

I opened the pop door and Clementine and Sookie charged out flapping their wings and squawking. But Maggie was nowhere to be found. I peeked in to the nest boxes and found her on the nest sitting peacefully. A-ha! So she must be our morning layer.


When I started snapping pictures she got irritated by the nest box paparazzi and stood up for a moment. Underneath her I saw one golf ball and no eggs. At least I know she wasn't sitting on someone else's egg. I figured I'd give her some privacy in her egg labor so I came back inside. I cracked the patio door just a bit with the hopes of hearing an egg song so I could dash back outside and see her egg.

After about 45 minutes went by and we were well past the time of day when we've been getting our morning egg, I went outside to check on her and when I opened the nest box doors there she was. Just sitting here. No egg. Hmmm… I waited until lunchtime and went out and checked on her again and look what I found:


So I think one mystery is solved - our morning layer is Maggie. Now I'm off to devise a plan to catch our afternoon layer in the act. We got egg #7 tonight so I have to determine if it's Sookie or Clementine who's our late-in-the-day layer.

* * * * *


On to the leave request. I'm going in for some surgery on my bum-thumb early Thursday morning so I don't know when I'll next be able to post. I have a bizarre case of "trigger thumb" and tomorrow is the day the surgeon will cut out the offending thumb tissue and stitch me back up. Mom is visiting to help Farmer B take care of the boys and the pets, but neither of them have agreed to blogging for me. Maybe I'll be back to posting in a day or two or maybe I'll go days dragging around a paw completely unable to take care of myself and drooling in the corner. I have no idea what to expect. So if you don't see me for a few days, you'll know why.

14 comments:

Annie*s Granny said...

Kate, you just take care of yourself. I'll be right here waiting for you, as I'm sure your other readers will. Good luck with the surgery...I'll keep fingers and toes crossed that you are pain free and blogging real soon.

Jeff Vandiver said...

"Drooling in the corner" Ha! That made me laugh! You go get that thumb fixed, and blog again when it's convenient. We'll be here!

Lo said...

YAY on the lay!!!! I love those chickens :) Good luck tomorrow. Heres to a quick and pain free recovery :)

Darla said...

Yep, you can learn a lot from Scooby-Do and the Gang! Glad that mystery is solved......I do hope your bumb thumb will be good as new and in just a short while too!!

Sue said...

Best to you on your "bumthumb" surgery-I'm sure it will go well.
Too hilarious with spying on the girls! Kate, you're going to make them have a complex!
:D

Erin said...

I hope everything goes well with your thumb! You are lucky to have mom to help...maybe she can continue the deteggtive work for you!

Dani said...

Good luck with the thumb surgery Kate. No worries about posting though. Just feel better and enjoy the time with your mom. :)

Unknown said...

Hope your surgery is textbook and your mending is speedy!

Kelly said...

I love the egg mystery, can't wait to hear what comes next. Wishing you a succesful surgery and quick recovery!

hidinginmygarden said...

Get well soon Kate, I'll miss your blog. Take care. :)

donna said...

Hope that thumb of yours will be like brand new. Let your family take care of you for a few days.

So many laughs in this post, starting with the word deteggtive. Nice to know that Scooby Doo has been a role model for you. I wonder what you've learned from SpongeBob....to run around in nothing but your underwear?

Kathryn said...

Hi, Kate. First, thank you for the kind words you left on my blog. If I ever figure out how to comment back . . .
Take care of yourself first - your blog audience will be here hoping all goes well. K (aka Mad Beach Maven)

Stefaneener said...

Best of luck with the surgery! Guest blogging! It's all the rage. Really, they'll love it.

You know the chickens are going to start messing with you. This is where having one green egg layer, one brown, and one white makes it so much easier.

Jamie said...

I swear you and I must be long lost twins... I've blogged about my chicken/egg experience, if you wanna check it out at
www.savannahscrapbooking.typepad.com you can find it under the "In the Garden" link on the right. Just something to do if you're bored. ;)
~Jamie

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