The chickens....

We haven't had a freshly-laid egg since New Year's Eve...... and the eggs that were laid that week are long gone. I've been buying 'cage-free' eggs since the first week of the new year. I don't know whether to believe that cage-free stuff or not. Our own chickens gave us eggs with orange-yellow yolks, not pale yellow yolks. You can see -- and taste -- the difference between store-bought eggs and "yard eggs" as they call them here.

The two hens that were laying those delicious eggs were Scarlett and PittyPat. Not one egg from either of them since December 31st. Cleaning out that coop every morning becomes a chore when you know there will be no fresh eggs before the day is over.

This morning when I went into the coop, one of the chickens was sprawled flat-out on the floor of the coop. Prissy, the last of our black-feathered hens, was just spread out there, lifeless. She must have died in her sleep and just fell off of the roosting bar, poor thing. I did notice her slow walk yesterday, and the bright red comb on top of her head was limp against one side of her head, rather than sticking straight up in the air, Mohawk-style, the way it usually did. I thought something was wrong, but you don't exactly carry a chicken to the vet's office, unless you've got a prize-winning hen or you've developed a close bond with your feathered bird. Neither one was true in Prissy's case.

True to her namesake, Prissy tried to be the Queen of The Coop out there, but Scarlett and Audrey never let her get away with that. And PittyPat was the last hen we put into the coop, so she really had no say in who would be Queen-- the hens really do have a pecking order.

When the hens in our first group went missing (hawks and/or coyotes) or they just up and died, I would call for my husband because I wasn't able to pick them up and dispose of them (such a civilized phrase). This morning, however, all I did was take one look at Prissy and I knew she was gone... so back into the house I went for a plastic bag.... my husband was right there in the kitchen and I told him what happened...... then I went back to the coop, picked up Prissy by the legs, and put her head-first into the bag, then disposed of her.... right into the trash can.

So now there are three... Scarlett, PittyPat, and Audrey (the last hen standing from the very first group of chickens we got after my husband built the coop a few years ago). Yesterday, I put fresh grass into the nesting boxes, and Scarlett was right there beside me, watching me cut the grass and then supervising as I scattered it into each of the four nesting boxes. For the past couple of weeks, I have been reminding the hens that they have eggs to lay... they're not old birds.... they should still be giving us eggs with blindingly-bright yolks.

My husband has already asked me if I want to get some 'replacement' chickens. My answer was no. Three chickens we have, and three chickens is all I will have, at least for the moment. If these hens continue to not lay eggs, then I will just keep on buying the cage-free eggs in the store.... and Scarlett, Audrey and PittyPat can feather out their days right here in the coop...... eggs or no eggs.

But when they're all gone.... then I myself will be cage-free....... free of opening up the coop first thing in the morning, free of cleaning up and sweeping out the coop, and free of having to be home at dusk to lock up the coop so the hens are safe from night-time wildlife.