Where's my eggs?

As a first time chicken farmer, there are many things I've learned and many things I'm sure I will continue to learn. When my husband first mentioned that he wanted to get chickens, I immediately had hesitations. I thought of chickens as stinky, dirty birds that would be more trouble than their worth. Well, now we have chickens and my opinion has changed. Chickens don't stink if you clean their areas properly. Chickens are not dirty, though if you let them free range in your yard, be prepared to occasionally step in their droppings. On the same note, be prepared for them to scratch and dig for juicy bugs even if that happens to be in your garden or flower beds. Our chickens have personality which kind of surprised me.
After a little reading, we found that hens start laying at about 18 weeks. So for the first 17 or so weeks, you get to do everything for them but without the profit of eggs. We started off with 4 Black Star hens which had just started to lay. They laid very well even through the cold winter months. We lost one to a fox, one to a dog we were babysitting and one to an infection. We had one left. We had picked up 3 hens that were supposed to be Speckled Sussex. Once they matured, we realized they were not Speckled Sussex. They look and act like Game hens. They lay smaller light colored eggs, but are not as good as the Black Stars for production.
This past summer, we ordered hatching eggs. We successfully hatched out Barred Rock and Welsummer chicks. We couldn't wait until they turned 18 weeks and starting producing eggs. We plan to sell hatching eggs as well as chicks. We waited, and waited and waited. 18, 19 then 20 weeks passed and not a single egg. Finally, at 29 weeks of age we got our first 2 eggs from the Barred Rock hens we paired with our Rhode Island Red rooster. These will be Black Star chicks. At 30 weeks of age, the Barred Rock hens we paired with Barred Rock roosters started laying. At 31 weeks of age, we finally got our first Welsummer egg. What happened to the 18 weeks? I happily placed 8 Black Star eggs and 2 Barred Rock eggs in the incubator. 2 more eggs are either Black Star or Barred Rock, but I forgot to note which one so I won't know until they hatch.
We had one small green egg that came from one of our Game hen chicks who we hatched out with the Barred Rocks and Welsummers. This hen which looks really close to the Welsummer hens, but is a little thinner and has the game hen tail, is the product of a mating between one of our game hens and Able. Able was supposed to be a Rhode Island Red, but after comparing him to other Rhode Island Reds, we decided he must not be one. He looked very similar to our Welsummer Roosters, but he had a rose comb. So this hen mated with our Welsummer rooster and at 30 weeks of age, started to produce green eggs. I added the first green egg to the incubator because I'm really curious to see what comes out. Sometime around February 1 or 2, our eggs should hatch. I'm excited.

The missing hen

It was Wednesday, Dec 9th and we were expected to have a cold and rainy night. I had gone to an after school event for the girls and by the time we got home the sun was already going down. After getting the girls settled inside and changing into my farm coat and boots, I went to go check on the animals and secure them for the night. I started with the furthest hen house and worked my way closer to the house. When I got to the last hen house, I noticed I was short one hen. I didn't remember seeing the Barred Rock hen in any of the other houses. Just to be sure, I checked and rechecked each of the four hen houses. No sign of her. I went on to secure the turkeys in the turkey house and fed the goats and horses. No sign of this hen anywhere. I went inside to get my heavy duty flashlight and let the girls know I would be back in soon. I searched now through the dark in the light rain. Under the front porch, on the front porch, in the garage, in all the hen houses, again, in the barn, in the girls playhouse, in the garden, to the edge of the woods... no hen. I was starting to believe something must have gotten her. No sign of a struggle, no feathers about, but it could have been a bird of prey. I searched everywhere again. No sign of her. I reluctantly gave up the search and went in for the night. Some of my birds get out of their yards and wander around, but they always go back to their houses for the night. I assumed this hen was gone for good. It rained hard all night. It was a cold freezing rain. Other than Penny, my stubborn Bronze turkey hen who decided to spend the night perched on the fence instead of going inside the newly built turkey house with the other turkeys, all the animals had shelter. The next morning before getting out of bed, I looked out the window to see if there was any sign of the hen. None. I did see Penny still on the fence. Silly bird, I thought. I went downstairs and poured my coffee. I looked out at Penny to see that she had jumped down off the fence. Then I went to the other kitchen window and looked out towards the hen houses. The hen! She was out there wandering back and forth just outside the chicken yards. I put on my rain boots and farm coat and headed out there to get her. Other than being wet and cold, she seemed to be fine. I talked to her and brought her back to her house. I opened the door just enough to put her inside then closed it again. Too early and nasty for them to come out yet. I looked around trying to find some sign of where she had roosted that night. No sign. I guess I'll never know where she had been, or why she had not gone back in with the others. I'm just glad she's back safely. Later than morning after getting the girls on the bus, I headed back out to feed the animals. I heard some crows fussing. As I came around the corner of the house and looked up into the walnut trees in the chicken yards, I saw two crows sitting on either side of a large bird. At first sight, I thought it was a buzzard. We have many around this area. I soon saw the white head and realized it was a bald eagle. I wanted to run in and get my camera, but just stood there in amazement watching. After a couple of minutes tops, it flew off over the creek area followed by the two crows. That was an amazing sight. Good thing my chickens were still in, but I was very grateful for the opportunity to see such an amazing bird.