Harley's Nest

Last year, my chickens that were hatched in April were laying by this time, so I’ve been on the lookout.  My older girls are molting, so it’s been a very dry egg season.  I’ve noticed that Harley, our Silver Spangled Wyandotte, has been separating herself from the group and wandering off, even flying over the fence at times.  She always returned by late afternoon, so I didn’t think too much of it.  Then, this morning, she exhibited some peculiar behavior. 

She was pacing back and forth in front of the fence, obviously looking for a place to escape.  Her pacing was of the urgent “I have an egg in me and am about to pop” kind. 

So I broke the rules.   I opened the gate and let her out.  Then I followed her.  

Sure enough, she bolted over to my neighbor’s driveway.  Behind a large bottle of windshield wiper fluid and a bunch of tools near the garage, Harley settled into a quiet settled activity. I tried not to disturb her.   Twenty minutes later I went back and sure enough, there were little white eggs in the corner behind the snow shovel.

Can Harley not see where the eggs belong?  I even put a “demo” egg in the nesting box in her coop so that she’d know where to put hers.  Would it be horrible of me not to let her out of the coop tomorrow until she figures out where to lay?  Once a nest is established, how hard is it to break the habit?

This is what passes for a cliff hanger around here!