I blame the snakes. Really, it is their fault that I have seven hens that come inside the house to lay their eggs. If you haven’t read where this all started, check out this post: Baby Chicks in the House.
Some of the chicks raised near the house joined the main flock and now hang out near the coop. The two roosters of the bunch continued to come back toward the house each morning with fourteen of the hens.
In December of 2024, Pecky Becky came to the back door (French doors of mostly glass, so I can see out of it top to bottom). Since my workspace faces the door, I could see her peering inside. I opened the door and she waltzed in like she owned the place – which, I guess she sort of did for the first ten weeks of her life.
I’ve had chickens long enough that I can recognized the tells of a hen wanting to find a nest to lay an egg. Pecky was about five months old by this time, so she was certainly old enough. Instinct told her to find a safe place, so she came to the safest place she knew – inside the house. I set up a little space for her on the couch next to me and comforted her until she settled to nest.
After her first egg on that Tuesday, she skipped a couple of days and came back on Friday. Pecky then proceeded to come in every day for the next 64 days to lay an egg. That’s an AMAZING streak, especially for a new layer. Plymouth Rock hens can lay up to 300 eggs per year, according to some sources; and she was off to the races.
Little did I know, that was only the beginning. Continue the tale in part 2!
