Two dozen eggs this week, and lots of grunt work done in the barnyard today. Mostly turning over the manure pile and general cleaning up and maintenance.

Our porch had an old, decrepit lawn chair that I appropriated and have hanging on nails in the tack room. I took it down when I was done and sat for about half an hour, watching the general barnyard behavior of the critters. It was there that I saw the tale of the luckiest moth in the world.

It was a kind of beige color, and was sitting on the chair when I unfolded it. Without thinking, I flicked it off with my finger and it fluttered to the ground. Immediately one of the White Rocks set upon it and chased it for a foot or so until it fluttered into sight of rooster-in-training Jean-Bob. Jean Bob pecked and chased it, at which time it took flight and fluttered across the barnyard. It hit the side of the barn and fell to the ground - right in front of one of the laying New Hamps. She started to chase it, and it went airborne again, and came to light...

Right in front of the same White Rock it escaped from earlier. Again the White Rock tried to eat it, but it took to the air yet again, with the Rock in hot pursuit. It fluttered out into the yard and the Rock eventually gave up the chase.

There was also something that brought cause for concern. The laying Rhode Island Red crouched like it was going to make a mess and something orange yellow came dribbling out - an egg yolk. It was all in the feathers on her rear end, so while she picked at the yolk, I caught her and went about cleaning up. Hanging from the top of her vent was what looked like the collapsed sac of a soft egg shell. I gave it a gentle pull and the whole thing came out, collapsed. No sign of the white.

I'm not sure what caused this chicken equivalent of a miscarriage. The egg could have been bad to begin with, or the hen was stressed - earlier in the day one of the goats picked her up by a mouthful of feathers. It could be that this one is not a real dependable layer, either. She was the last of the Reds to start laying, as far as I know.

Well, some research is now in order.