Chickens and frogs

This weeks egg count -
Ex-batts - 8
Barnvelders - 5
Marans - 0
Hybrids - 1
Ducks - 20

Keith keeps pointing out that there five ducks and eleven chickens that should be laying eggs. There are still plenty for Muffins, scrambled egg breakfasts at the weekend, omelets or eggy sandwiches during the week and fried eggs with the sausage and mash.
Several duck eggs have been lost to the crows as they occasionally lay them by the pond, and we have found some pecked in the run which may be a jealous chicken!
Before WW1, most people ate duck eggs because the high yielding hybrid chickens had not yet been bred. I can see why. To be fair, most of them are babies and not yet laying, or they have been kept in a lit coop in the warm and the free-ranging has messed up their internal thermometer. Gladys and Pecky have been laying in the straw bales and Snowdrop has done her bit. The Barnvelders are laying in the egg box on the side of their coop/shed and the Marans are just too aloof to do anything. Keith bought a proper set of nest boxes for the laying of eggs, no one has been in them yet. I put Snowdrop on the top perch, she had a look, walked along inspecting them all and jumped down.
Talking of Snowdrop, she has been catching frogs down by the pond. I have seen her with four so far this week, she hasn't a clue what to do with them and usually loses them to Gladys who knows exactly what a dead frog is for - eating. I just hope she doesn't get too close to waters edge, I'm still not sure if chickens can swim!
Jemima has been brooding in the coop again this week, attended by Bubble who has been chasing off Ja-Ja and Duck Norris, they have been hanging around outside the coop like expectant fathers. We keep taking the eggs away as soon as she has left but there haven't been many eggs at all for the last few days so maybe they are trying to hide them by the pond.
No sign of any Moorhen chicks so they must have all perished in the cold.