So, we have a couple of hens that are really “broody” right now. For those not familiar with the chicken nomenclature, that means they sit on eggs all day long. So when the kids go to collect the eggs, they have to lift these broody ladies up and sneak the eggs out from under them. It has not been a problem.
We have another thing happening too. The eggs are being fertilized. I think Terran described this best when he shouted to Mesa: “That rooster is biting and climbing on top of Speckled!” Yes, love is in the air. We have like 6 roosters now, (how did that happen?), and they having relations with the ladies like mad! You can always tell when you hear a loud “BAWK BAWK BAWK BAWK” and then see a hen come blazing around the corner closely followed by a hot and bothered rooster.
So Karrie told me that yesterday the kids and she had come up with a plan. They want to see if those broody hens can hatch some chicks. She said they are really getting into it now because she has found feathers in the nest boxes. She told me that the hens will pull they breast feathers off to make the nest when they are serious. And they only get up once a day for food and drink. That’s dedication.So Kar and the kids created a couple of nest boxes that are set apart and marked the eggs with a marker. One of the broody hens got into the new nest box just fine. The other one would have nothing to do with it and went to the old one even though the eggs were not there. We’ll see if she figures it out. It takes 3 weeks to hatch the eggs. The kids will have fun observing this process. I’ll post updates here.
