Freeloaders

**Cheesy Picture**

Every night when I lock them up, I give the chickens a pep talk about how they need to stop freeloading and start laying some eggs! Its highly effective. Up until this week, only one of the chickens has been laying an egg. A few days ago, another started laying, though I am still not sure who. One of these days I'll catch her in her nest and figure out who it is. After building them nice, cozy nest boxes, do you think they lay in them? Oh, no! They each have their own designated spot.

PS. I don't know why I forgot to mention this, but guess what i found INSIDE the run the other night, when I went to lock the chickens up. A skunk!!!! Is our yard a designated wildlife sanctuary or something!? After building what we thought was a secure coop, I will say one thing: rodents can squeeeeeeeeze themselves in just about anywhere. The fencing has two inch openings and the thing is fully enclosed, with an apron buried around the perimeter. When I saw movement in the corner of my eye, I knew immediately what it was. I ran back in and got Jeff, who came out ready to reckon with the skunk. We gingerly approached the run, flashlight in hand, but couldn't get a good enough angle on it. While we were trying to get a bead on it, it disappeared. It was awesome! It was pretty much a repeat the possum incident, but with the added fear of being sprayed. We timidly opened the shed door and shined the flashlight in. No skunk. But its a shed, filled with stuff. We looked around as best we could and didn't see it. At that point, someone had to put their big-kid pants on and go in, so my big strong husband held the flashlight while I went in. Ha!!! :) Seriously, at that point I was pretty sure it wasn't in there, but Jeff thought it had to be. We looked high and low, with no sign of the skunk. At some point, my neighbor let her dog out and we yelled at her to get him back in. She came out and we were all shining flashlights around looking for the thing. We never did see it, or find out where it came from. All I know is that I am going to enforce the coop, and perhaps invest in a rocking chair and a shotgun with night vision and a silencer! :)