Speaking of fowl, did you hear about the Greensboro politician who...

Gus awoke me at about 6:00 this morning. He doesn't usually begin crowing until about 6:30 when the nice lady immediately behind my house starts her car to go to work but maybe that was Gus's way of warning me that things would be different today. It's also probably a good thing that I gave away a few eggs yesterday,

Elizabeth didn't lay today as she never works more than 6 days before taking a day off but BB laid an egg for the 19th day in a row. Her eggs may be smaller but she makes up for the smaller size with higher production.

I spent about an hour in the garden this morning tilling for the corn rows before leaving for most of the day so I don't know exactly when it started but when I went out tonight to close the door on the chicken ark it appeared that one hen was missing. As BB is solid black and always hard to see I almost didn't check but something told me I'd do well to squat down and crawl close enough to put my hand on all three birds. "Let's see, one chicken, two chickens and thr... Wait, there really are only two chickens... BB, where are you at?"

I'd been suspecting something like this for several days since I started training BB to use Elizabeth's nest by leaving one of BB's eggs in the nest along side one of Elizabeth's eggs but being new to raising chickens tonight was my first experience with a broody hen. You see, BB has decided that laying eggs isn't enough-- she wants to be a momma. "But BB, you're still a teenager!"

I walked over to the nest, squatted down and felt inside where I found a warm and wet mound of black feathers setting atop of 3 eggs-- two little brown eggs of her own and one of Elizabeth's blue-green eggs.

It was with squawking vocal protest that I picked BB up from the nest and set her inside the chicken tractor where the disgruntled little Bantam hen promptly sat flat on the ground and sulked. It's my guess she'll be in that same spot come morning.

I wonder if this means I'll have to give up on training her to nest with Elizabeth?

You know, I think I'm going to add a 3rd hen to Gus's concubines.