My neighbours are away again on vacation and asked me to check on their hens and collect the eggs each day. They asked me shortly they left town, about 1 hour after I went to the grocery for two dozen eggs.
This morning when I went to find the five eggs, I was disappointed that there were only four. There are five young, healthy hens and each hen lays one egg every morning. I looked more carefully and one hen obviously could not wait her turn, and laid her egg out in the large part of the pen…the part I can’t access without getting pecked to death. So there the lone egg sits.
To my surprise, my initial reaction was disappointment that I would only get 4 instead of 5 eggs this morning. I have a fridge full of eggs; in fact there are now more eggs in my fridge than all other food combined. Then I started to look for ways to break in, but decided I couldn’t fit in through the small door which leads into the egg-laying compartment. My sister had suggested the last time this happened that I find a way to break the egg up so the hens don’t get used to eating their eggs. I looked around for a long enough stick, but gave up.
Instead I just had a good long chat with the hens. They are fun to talk to — they seem always to respond with gentle murmuring, encouraging me to stay longer. They gather as close as they can, and even fight to keep the weaker one out of the way. Now they know secrets that I have never told another person. I’m thankful for my neighbour’s hens; I get lots of benefit, and none of the responsibility.
Reflections 