Kitchen Garden Forum

Chickens this time. What IS it with my animals?

There wasn't a single one of our 8 chickens in the run at 2pm yesterday. I thought at first I'd had a memory loss and forgotten to let them out at dawn, but as I stood there, there was an agonized squawk and then 7 chickens all came rushing out of the hut. I looked in the nest box and there was Honey, chicken number 8 who was looking very proud and confused with her first ever egg between her feet.

I know it sounds crazy, but it appears that the other 7 were in the hut shouting encouragement (egging her on, so to speak ) whilst she pushed the first one out! They weren't just keeping out of the rain as they are in a covered run and they rarely go in during the day except to lay.

Comments?

Honey must have got drunk last night and wondered when she woke up this morning if she was paying the consequences. Seriously, I wonder what emotions animals feel when they perform some function like this for the first time. They don't exactly have anybody else around they can ask, can they..... ie. "Am I doing this right? Is this supposed to happen?"

One of my new Light Sussex laid her first egg today and didn't she let everyone know!