I feel like a bad Mom

20 eggs!

About 2 months ago (maybe mid-December) I notice that Rhoda our only laying hen stopped laying.  I heard that in the winter hens either slow down or completely stop laying, because there is less light.  I was told that in spring they'll go back to producing.  But then everyone I know who has chickens said that theirs stopped in December but started back up in mid-January.  But mine hasn't!  Or at least that's what I thought.

When we went to Béziers our friends B&A watched our chickens at their house.  I was talking to Ben today and told him that our chickens aren't laying and he told me that Rhoda laid at  his house....what?  He told me that maybe she's not laying in her nesting box because she's free-range.  Sometimes they start to lay someplace else.  So this morning I decided to go and see where they might go to during the day.  I went up to the coop and Fanny & Lefty were still in there, but I didn't see Rhonda.  Then I heard her cluck, where was she?  Part of the coop is a shed where the pool chairs are stored.  I looked behind the pool chairs and there she was.  I went back and she was laying an egg.  She then stood up and there were tons of eggs.  OMG - she has been laying the last month or so but I didn't know it.  She was probably wondering why I wasn't coming to get her eggs.  I made her a nice fluffy bed  where she has been laying so it's a bit more comfortable for her.  I kind of feel like a bad Mom, not paying attention to her child.

I did the egg freshness test.  You drop them in a jug of water and if they float to the top they are bad.  ALL her eggs were perfectly fresh.  That's my girl!