Hey there! Welcome back to the blog!
There are some things that happen every year on the farm like clock work. Many of these things we have learned to anticipate and cope with; we monitor the fruit trees in the early autumn for pests that we hand pick, I look up the projected last frost every January and count backwards to plan all my seed starting dates, and so on. Certain things come up every year and we have adapted and put systems in place for it.
Other things come up every year, and somehow EVERY SINGLE YEAR it’s a surprise. How? Every year the days get longer, and EVERY YEAR that causes the chickens to resume laying eggs. And yet - EVERY YEAR I’m surprised and caught back on my heels. And the birds are free ranging.
Let me share a little something about chickens, for those of you that don’t already know. My chickens are heritage breed. They are allegedly smarter than your average production bird. If nothing else, they are certainly more resourceful than other breeds we have had. This is great when we are a day late making a run to the feed store (I have watched them catch, kill and eat a whole chipmunk. It was both gruesome and impressive.). It’s slightly less awesome when they resume their annual game of hide the eggs.
The goal every year is to anticipate the return of egg laying and keep the girls locked up in their expansive run, with access to the nest boxes and a few other human-accessible hiding spots. Wouldn’t it be great to have only a half dozen or so places to check and find fresh eggs that we have been missing for months?! Yeah. Unfortunately, it never quite pans out that way, and I instead end up playing hide and seek with a flashlight to try to find them before they crack, rot, or attract nasty critters that would be just as happy eating the hens as the eggs…
Someday, we will have a system in place for this. Every year I get on top of a few more tasks, every year my planning WORKS for a few more things. Maybe next year will be my year for early season eggs. This year the dog is enjoying her frozen-egg-scrambles.
What recurring event have you set up a system for? What is the system, and how long did it take you to set it up? Leave me a comment below!
