Victoria, Eliza and (back) Matilda when they first arrived
The Cosy Cottage Coop Ladies have been busy this month with an egg - sometimes two - most days. Of the three new chickens, I assumed either Eliza or Victoria would be the first to start laying. Eliza now had a rather vivid red comb while Victoria had become more docile, squatting down to let me stroke her.
Eliza beat Victoria to it, but she had a stressful first day at her new job.
Eliza was feeling restless and indecisive. She headed up the ramp into the coop, flying into the top room, the 'bedroom' quarters. She would then sit in the corner, change her mind, and descend back down again before going outside and joining the others.
Now Mabel, on the other hand, was in the mood for laying an egg. No ifs, no buts. She retreated to her usual spot, in the left hand corner of the bedroom, and settled down to the serious business.
But look, who's this, coming back up the ramp again? Eliza was disappointed to see Mabel in 'her' place, and, squawking angrily, she moved to the right hand corner, then downstairs to the 'living room', where the hens sheltered from poor weather.
Eliza
However, none of these places were good enough. She wanted the left hand corner. The one Mabel was sitting regally in. Frustrated, Eliza decided to go back out and make a fuss. She would tell the others all about Mabel ousting her out of her rightful place.
"How dare she, thinking she's lady muck?" She would proclaim, expressing her grievances.
"Humph! I have a very important job to do and she's sitting lazing about, acting the Queen Hen, where I should be working. I can't do it unless she moves out of that corner!" She grumpily protested, hoping to garner sympathy.
"Is she still not finished yet?" huffed Eliza to herself on yet another trip to see Mabel still at work.
An hour later, Mabel proudly strode out, leaving a perfect little egg behind. "Finally," muttered Eliza, who sulkily went up to the same corner. And, indeed, it wasn't too long afterwards when there was another golden egg of exquisite oval shape and colour - and taste as I later found. Although Eliza wasn't as boastful as Mabel and was more modest about her achievements, inwardly she was very happy with her egg. It was a stressful first day at work but everything turned out well.
Since then, there has been great productivity from the girls, at least from Eliza, Victoria and Mabel. Eliza and Mabel appear to have improved their timing or perhaps they are more flexible with where to lay their eggs, realising that there is no magic corner. Time will tell whether Matilda will join her sisters or will, like Little Ava, decide she is too small for such hard work and so will opt out of egg laying.
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