We crossed our fingers this year and hoped our ageing bantams might still be able to produce a few eggs for another season. We thought they might have reached the menopausal stage in life - if that's the correct term for hens - and had earned the right to live out their remaining time in retirement.
It was therefore a genuine surprise to realise two of our five remaining chooks have clearly responded to the urge to lay. It remains to be seen if the other three will rise to the challenge, and refuse to be outdone, or whether they will decide they're over it, choosing instead to eat and sleep their way to finally dropping off the perch.
Most of the girls are at least six to eight years old, and while we’ve noticed over the years bantams continue to lay longer than full-sized chooks, they’re all still long in the tooth and presumably will stop laying eventually, or at least slow down their production. Weather plays its part and that has certainly gone backwards in the last few days. What has hopefully been winter’s last gasp has put the brakes on. This could also be behind the others’ reluctance to produce, and take advantage of freshly laid hay in their palatial nesting boxes, or if they will scorn these and go bush, which is not unusual. At least we’re aware of some previously used and favoured sites around the property that will need to be checked out just in case, as the egg-laying season gets underway.
Hearing another cackle this morning is a good sign one of them has done the deed!
Fingers crossed.
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