So much drama with our broody chickens. This is Twinkle in her nesting box at 9:30 this morning:
This is Twinkle at 9:32:
Oh my gosh was she mad at me. You can almost make out all the bad words she was cackling. I’ve never felt so shamed before….and it got worse as the other chickens gathered around to stare at our confrontation. We’ve had other chickens go broody but none of them have ever raised such a fuss before.
Some breeds of chickens are more likely to go broody that others…I think it just means they have more of a built-in mothering instinct…which doesn’t make me feel any better about having to remove a broody chicken from a stash of eggs. I’m pretty sure that the term “nesting” comes from broody chickens. They start feathering the nest and will even sit on other chickens’ eggs. If I put an egg next to one of our broody chickens (or even a golf ball!) she’ll look at it for a moment and then use her beak to pull it underneath her.
Broody is a good thing if you want baby chickens, but we don’t have a rooster, so our broody hens are just sitting on unfertilized eggs….which means they might sit on those eggs forever because they’ll never hatch. Some hens won’t even move off the eggs to eat or drink.
Our barred rock Henrietta will often go missing and we finally figured out this last summer that she likes to sneak off into the woods to lay her eggs. The first time she went missing we thought for sure she’d just been snatched up a hawk or maybe a fox. Then one day she showed up again! But she was woozy and much thinner than the other chickens, having obviously not eaten or had anything to drink in a few days. She looks under the influence:
After I took the above photo Henrietta disappeared again! We searched the woods and found her under a holly bush, sitting on about 35 eggs. I had to put her in chicken jail for a few days in order to break her broodiness but it worked. The worst part is that Henrietta is not always the nicest chicken…she likes to pick on several of the others. The other chickens were not very happy that she was back. Before we found her it had crossed my mind for a moment that maybe the other chickens had colluded against her and done something unspeakable.
Henrietta hasn’t been broody in a while but she still likes to lay her eggs out in the woods. If I lock the chickens up in the morning and then let them out about lunchtime, Henrietta will unknowingly lead me right to her new laying spot. She runs out in a frantic hurried manner and heads straight for the woods. I run behind her, hiding behind trees and bushes as I go so she doesn’t notice she’s being followed. Once I find her spot I can go back and collect her eggs when she’s not there. I always leave one behind so she will keep laying in the same place.
Rey is another one of our broody-leaning hens…but whenever she’s broody she gets so lethargic that I panic that she’s dying. The first time it happened I thought for sure she was egg bound because I could feel an egg in her abdomen. If a hen is egg-bound…egg production doesn’t stop…so you can imagine how that will turn out if something isn’t done. I gave her a long Epsom salt bath and massaged her belly for a while. She only growled at me once. Then I put Rey in her own dark little room with food and water and a soft bed, hoping she would relax enough that the egg would come out. And it did….but it was just a normal sized egg and she acted like it was no big deal. Turned out she wasn’t egg-bound at all….just drunk with egg love. She was back to normal the next day after she had some cool air on her belly:
i never knew i would be so intrigued with chicken chronicles! You’ve turned me! Thanks for sharing!
Silly ladies, that’s a Whole lotta female to wrangle
We had one hen that flew the coop everyday to lay her eggs by the trash cans. So when we realized this we let her out every morning to go to her spot, but then I’d have to wait for her to be done before locking her back up. When school started in September for my kids, I just didn’t have time for this ritual anymore & I told her she’d have to find another magic spot & we secured the coop so she couldn’t fly out anymore. She now lays them in the boxes with the rest of the girls!
I just saw this video today and thought you would like it. http://distractify.com/animals/2017/02/03/chicken-plays-america-the-beautiful-on-keyboard. Are any of your chickens musical? lol
Totally entertaining Ashley. MUCH better than any of the Housewife shows! Love your chickens. I’m sure that 99% of us are with you in the opinion that Fo is our favorite! Gotta love an underdog! Plus she’s pals with Happy!
We have several breeds of chickens, too. By far, our Silkie Priscilla is the most broody and the most grumpy when she is. We dont’ use her eggs, so we don’t mind. She has hatched seven chicks over the past year! They at so adorable and she’s a great mom, too.
I had a lovebird years ago that was egg bound & I ended up losing her no matter what I tried! Glad your little girl ended up ok. Love the chicken chronicles!
I am laughing so hard imagining you treking through the woods following your chicken! Then I imagine giving a chicken an epsom salt bath. You are an awesome chicken mama. Remind me if I ever come back as a chicken to come live at your house!
I never thought reading about chickens would give me so much entertainment. Each time I read about any of your animals (chickens and dogs) I have a smile on my face. TFS. I would love to be a “fly on the wall” and watch all your interactions with your chickens.
Chicken Tales – a very entertaining feature. I look forward to the next chapter. The other day I read about (and saw pictures of) a rare black chicken. T’was most interesting. Even their internal organs are black
Rare black chicken
http://www.boredpanda.com/goth-black-chicken-ayam-cemani/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=Newsletter
Sometimes you find someone who “gets” you, even if they don’t know who you are and has never spoken to or laid eyes on you. Maybe we all Have a “spirit” twin. Sometimes I read your words and it’s my life……..The cancer, the crafts/projects, the chickens, the simple lifestyle. I started following you after I saw a craft project I wanted to do that you posted and shortly after that I found out you too were going through your own cancer battle. You inspired me so much I even bought your “Choose Joy” bracelets and made everyone wear them….. Even the dog. The chickens were for my birthday/1 year cancer free gift from my husband about 4 years ago and my family just finds so much joy out of them. The kids even pull them around in the sled when it snows. Who knew chickens would give me this feeling. I’m still working on a more “simple” Lifestyle, but can’t seem to achieve that part as much as I would like just yet. I get closer and closer everyday! Thank you for your inspiration.
Thank you for the lovely story. We had the same problem with broody chickens at my mum’s house growing up in Brazil. We didnt have a rooster either and when they were really broody my mum would just let them nest for a few days, buy a few 1 day- old chicks and then put the baby chicks on the nest. It took a few hours but the babies were adopted every time!