Crouching Pullet, Hidden Huevo

Following the monumental event that shall forever be known around here as Egg Day, our chicken fortunes have been fickle. We were blessed with two gorgeous eggs in one day, then nothing at all for two days in a row. As of this morning, the mystery has been solved. Check out my sneaky chick –



That’s my Annabel, who typically, when let out of the coop to graze, either heads straight for the garden to devour my infant peas & arugula, or follows me around like a lost puppy. However, yesterday upon being sprung from the run, she high-tailed it straight over to the woodpile/junk collection area behind our garage and mysteriously disappeared for a few minutes. This morning, she did the same, and being a little slow on the uptake, I finally figured out why –



She seems to prefer her little dugout to the nest box in the henhouse. This little henny has gone from barren to broody in the space of a week! What I’m wondering now, is whether or not I should slip one or two of my dummy eggs into her hidey-hole after I collect her eggs? I don’t want to squash her motherly instinct by raiding her “secret” nest, but I’m too nervous about predators getting wind of our eggs to risk leaving them there for any length of time. If anyone has any thoughts on how to best handle this, I’m open to suggestions.