My thinking now is that Mildred's egg production has ceased because of stress - she was wounded in the neck, is trying to deal with Bob's newfound affections, and is no doubt at the bottom of the two-chicken pecking order.

There's another factor now: Friday I discovered she'd been wounded again. The circumstances were the same as last time; Bob in the coop, Mildred in another part of the barn where she usually doesn't go. This wound is on her back near the base of where her right wing connects. It looks awful, but she seems to be doing okay. I put some Bag Balm on it Saturday, and she got through the weekend just fine.

Sunday morning she was growling oddly, like she had done when she laid the ill-fated egg on the woodpile. My wife speculated that perhaps she has hidden a nest away somewhere.

Now my plan is to get a couple more pullets as soon as possible to try and spread Bob's attention around a little bit more. I was going to do this anyway, have a mutt flock with some different breeds, but I was going to try and wait until spring. Not now. My daughter has a 4-H meeting coming up sometime soon. I hope I can get a lead on some decent layers who were hatched around Labor Day so they're roughly the same age as the Rosses.

I am also looking into getting more information on the Ross breed of chicken. Will report in here as soon as I find something.