Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Broody Hen

I had a surprise out at the overgrown fence line this evening. As I made my way toward the secret spot in the scary weeds where the ladies have all been laying their eggs, I saw this mean old hen, very well hidden. "Friend" is her name. We call her an Amish hen because we bought her as a pullet years ago from the Amish family down the road. The family who would entitle my brother's blog, "Big and Strong Suburbanite Dad." Friend and the other Auracana bantam mixes have gone broody consistently through the years, and it looks like more chicks will arrive on Providence Farm in September.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 23, 2012 at 1:24 PM

    How do you restrain yourself from interfering? This is my issue even now. We are on Day 10 of our inkybator 2 experiment and can hardly wait for the end. I fear if it is successful that the house will overflow with chicks and they shall burst the windows and doors to overflow the county. Self-control. I'm doing it wrong.

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    1. Mrs. GAugust 23, 2012 at 1:52 PM

      Hmm, I don't even know what urge to interfere you're talking about. Do you mean thin the amount of eggs under her? She's pretty capable of hatching a brood, and if we have extras, I'll sell them.
      If you mean looking at the eggs while they develop, we do. We candle them every so often to make sure they're doing ok.
      And even that interference isn't a temptation, it's more of a deterrent. She's a tough momma who will thrash you if you don't catch her in a bucket just so when you mess with her eggs.

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  2. AnonymousAugust 23, 2012 at 1:58 PM

    Yes, exactly what I meant. Candling, thinning, etc. I made a rule that I would not candle these eggs. I felt like I was messing with the eggs too much and (NOT JINXING) um, causing problems of some sort which would result in the absolute death or possible deformity of the poor baby chicks inside. My Broody let me take the eggs without too much fuss, but that inkybator (#2) is very strict.

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