After having one year old hen go broody and not hatch a single egg, we didn't know if we wanted the hens to go through the ordeal. But Cleo has hatched a batch before. Actually it was exactly a year ago. Are their internal clocks timed like that or was it a fluke? Anyway, we put 8 eggs under her in two batches. Her first 4 eggs hatched yesterday and the rest should hatch today. Here's one of them...
Cleo is adamant about nesting way above ground and last year when they first started hatching, we moved the nest box to the ground, so the little ones wouldn't fall out. Well, when we did that she abandoned the rest of the eggs and concentrated on the hatched chicks. This year we decided not to move the nest box until tomorrow. That way all the eggs will have had a chance to hatch. So we put up a "playpen" around her box. That way the lttle ones can't fall out. There is Start N Grow in the metal pan and water in the plastic container...
It was interesting to see how Mama got the little ones to start drinking water. She would scoop some up in her beak and let it dribble down her crop. The little ones would catch the water drips off her crop. Very interesting. In the picture below there are three showing.
We got away for the 4th and had the neighbor boy feed and look after our place while we were gone. On Thursday he said PJ (Plain Jane) (below) started to sit in this nestbox. He said that she pecked at him trying to gather eggs. So we have another broody hen. This one is a year old also, we aren't sure of how she'll hatch. But boy is she fiesty. Doug is trying to see how many eggs are underneath her. She must have pecked him 4-5 times. He said she was serious, she was pecking him hard. He only had time to feel 3 eggs. Maybe tonight, I don some gloves and see if I what I count. These will be due on July 27th.
Thanks for listening to me. I have had my chickens for a year and half and they are so much work, fun, and entertainment. But we don't have any domestic animals. No dogs, birds or cats.
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love chickens and eggs and farm things,.I am a farm gal at heart......when I wasw little my dad used to time it so eggs would hatch in the incubator for Easter. we were thrilled to go down cellar Easter morning to see the new chicks........leaving the "bunny" time to "hide" our baskets LOL
ReplyDeleteI understand your enjoyment of your chickens! I love them too! Last year a hen successfully hatched a couple chicks but they died. At the time, an animal was coming in and killing chickens and I think the hen was distraught.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing your experience!
Gina