The girls, who, whenever I am here, now spend most of their days 'out and about' have, over the last number of days, been spending more time in their run of their own volition.

We have no idea if we are right, but Sue and I have ourselves persuaded that this may be a precursor to their laying and I now - somewhat foolishly - check the nesting boxes on a daily basis.
Mind you, the chances are, now that they are very, very free-range hens, that they will lay in some obscure spot of their own choosing.

While Helen has a dust-bath Prudence, Irma and Sinead hover around their front door.