Chicken Behavior

On Thursday, Meredith, the runaway drama queen, ran away again. She was found Friday morning near the coop so I doubt she crossed the street this time. Offspring #2 found her. Offspring #2 also found Kelly laying an egg under the canoe. A total of three eggs were found under the canoe. One was warm so we know that one was fresh. I know under the canoe is a very private spot to lay an egg but I do provide a warm, dry, private spot inside the coop with fresh wood shavings. I wish Kelly would use the coop. I spent the afternoon outside with the chickens. I was husking 275 black walnuts; a job that took four hours. I wore gloves but my thumbs got stained black through the latex gloves. The chickens would come and go as I worked beside the picnic table. Usually Pamela would come close. She'd jump up on the picnic table and peck at my plastic bag of walnuts. Or she would come close to my feet and peck at the underside of the picnic table bench or at my jeans. The other hens would follow her over to me and totally come inside my personal bubble. Chickens have no boundaries. After I finished the walnuts and as long as I was all dirty, I thought it would be a good time to move the coop and run to a fresh spot on the lawn. Usually I move them to a fresh spot on weekends. Long as I was it, I decided to scoop out the bedding and put fresh wood chips in the coop. I put fresh layer mash in their food bucket. Hanging the bucket is tricky. I have a chain in there with a hook. I try to lift the bucket with both hands and hook the handle. Today it wasn't working. I was kneeling on the ground in front of the coop door trying to catch the handle on the hook with no success. I had one chicken in the coop, two on my lap, and another chicken on my calves as I knelt in front of the door. I guess they were anxious to get the fresh mash but they weren't making my task any easier by climbing all over me. Crimeny!