I guess I'm not the only broody one up in this house!
We've been having alot of chicken dram lately.
Easter is still pacing around with her swollen cyclops eye, but seemingly happy as can be. I tried (block your eyes for a sec) "dismissing the infection out of her eye by applying pressure (put nicely) with no such luck. She eats like a champ. Wanders the yard picking at bugs. And goes back to her crate at night.
I'm leaving her be.
As for the the other dram, sadly we lost a chicken.
She was one of our older hens, who on Saturday morning seemed pretty lethargic, with her tail down and uninterested in food. She remained in the coop and ventured outside for only a short time. I came home from work Saturday afternoon and checked on her- she was still the same. So giving her a once over to see what was up- I saw nothing outwardly wrong with her. She was nice and weighty, her eyes were bright, no loss of feathers, skin was of good color....so I was a bit confused- and disgruntled that this Snow White couldn't really do anything for her feathered friend.
The next morning, I walked out to the coop kinda already knowing what I might find. And sure enough she had passed in the night. She almost looked catlike (if that's possible) curled up in a comfortable ball, with her eyes closed.
She had done us well with her time, but its sad to lose a good worker.
So I was in the coop most of Sunday. Cleaning it out, and throwing lime everywhere to take care of any "sicky," things that might be lurking, when I noticed one of the blondes sitting on her favorite hen box. This didn't seem to strange but I noticed that she was constantly clucking and not leaving HER box.
Checking back on her later in the afternoon- and she was still there. I got a little nervous. I was hoping that she wasn't egg bound (which there is nothing I could do for) and was hoping for her to get off the box.
But checking back later at night she was still there- clucking away and not moving.
I put my hand in there to give her a little move, and what did she do- she bit me...
I was appalled.
This meant war.
In the coop I went- pj's and all to get her off her box and see what the crap her deal was. I thought I was the only female allotted terrible mood swings at this point of the game.
I grabbed her out of the box and realized that my hand had grabbed a chicken who was completely bald underneath?!
Oh did I feel bad....
Was she attacked? Were the other chickens picking on her? Was she injured?
Turning her upside down (which no chicken likes) I saw just how bald she was.......and just how beautifully clean her skin was?
Now I was confused.
My mind went back to a couple of weeks ago when I went out to the yard to see so many feathers everywhere. I remember thinking that another chicken had "got it," from a hawk- but no- they were all there!
So did this chicken just start plucking herself?
Yup.
She did.
So why?
Googled it up and saw that we had a broody hen!
Ahha~!
I've been waiting for one of these!
So what does it all mean Basil?
Well it means that this one hen went bitchy, I mean broody on us. That's when she feels the need to sit on eggs until they hatch. She will not let anyone near her, and she will own the hen box she is on. The thing is, is that we have no rooster so we have no fertile eggs. She will basically sit on those eggs until she hard boils them herself, unless we do something about it.
So a phone call to a dear friend (who knows ALOT more about chickens than me) was made. And the wheels were set in motion:)
Tomorrow a.m. we are getting a delivery of one dozen fertilized eggs for Ms. Broody to sit on until they hatch. And in 21 days we will have a new little flock added to the now 39 hens we got.
This might mean that 10 of them are roosters, or all twelve are hens, or a nice mix of both- but only time will tell for that!
What kind of eggs are we getting too-? I don't know- That's gonna be a nice surprise. Our now RI Red and Orpington mix is about to get more eclectic!
As for what I need to be doing for these little eggs, soon to be chicks, nothing- that's all up to Mamma Hen. She's about to guard them from the other hens with her life!
And what about her bald belly? She plucked those feathers herself to better feels the eggs beneath her.
Talk about nesting:)
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