Egg factory, Re-Strain

So several of the new chickens have started regular egg laying.  We had a total of 5 eggs yesterday including some weird “shell less eggs” which sometimes happens when chickens start laying initially.  We know when there is laying going on by the symphony of clucking that goes on in the backyard.  It almost seems contagious at times.    Even though we have a total of 5 nesting boxes most of the hens prefer to use only one of them.  They actually line up for it, clucking impatiently.  Chickens are strange.

We also keep having close calls with the small hawk that absolutely refuses to take the hint.  It is constantly hanging around.  Cindy witnessed a couple times where the hawk swooped right through the areas where the chickens were hanging out, sending them scrambling.

The odd thing is I sort of like the hawk, it seems pretty docile, allowing us to get within 10-15 feet before taking off.  I have chased it away countless times only to see it return shortly thereafter.  I am still hopeful that the hawk, which is quite small, is more curious than aggressive.   We are also lucky all of our chickens are healthy, speedy and have numerous places around the yard to take cover if need be.

Last night I watched the season finale of The Strain, a show that seemed dangerously close to jumping the shark in the first few episodes.  The show rebounded some as the season continued with less reliance on disgusting vampire suckfest scenes and more on story and conventional action.

We also caught the first episode of Homeland, a show that I thought was going to be a mess after the Brodie character was killed off.  Instead it somehow has managed to get better, a testament to how important good writing is in the success of a show.