Look what I've found in the bush

Actauly it was not me but my dear dog Bailey who found something in the bush. I saw him going often to one bush near the cottage and looking under it and then looking at me ... looking under the bush and again looking at me ... I knew he had found something so I went there to inspect and guess what?!

He found 8 eggs!!!

I have noticed our Hens not laying eggs lately. I thought it had something to do with the colder Autumn weather but now I see whats going on; they stopped laying into the coop nest but found a new nest under the bush. Why is that I wonder? Any way since we are feeding them with organic food which cost money I cant afford loosing those eggs to Foxes or else, and I sure don't want to search for eggs around our cottage every day since there are hundreds of bushes they can choose from.

I think I will have to reinstate an old custom called "closed in the chicken coop until noon" and after they have laid 2-3 eggs I let them free range. This worked before when they started laying eggs all over the place, even on the road and on our stairs (yes they would break and they would then eat them).

I checked the eggs for freshness by placing them into a bucket with water. All eggs sank to the bottom, which is a good sign. Eggs which are too old float and aren't good for consumption.