Today is supposed to be hatch day for my broody hen... Well.. She has been doing a decent job sitting on the eggs, until today! This morning, I went to the coop to check on the chickens and no one was on the nest of eggs and supposed "broody" was just out laying in the sun, like a fucking bum.
I decide, hey, maybe it's just her time that she goes out and poops and does some foraging. She'll be back on the nest in no time.
I go back out, a half hour later and empty nest still. Shit, what do I do? I don't even know. I resolve to remove the eggs if the next time I go out there, no one is setting.
I bring my egg basket, open the nesting box and one of my Australorps is setting. Okay fine... I guess I will let her set there. This is not original broody, by the way.
Then, a while later, I hear the egg song. I go out to see if the 'lorp laid an egg. She's walking around singing at the top of her lungs. Fine. Okay, I open the box again and one of the Welsummers is sitting on the eggs... Shoot. Well, let's see if the 'lorp laid.
No... But there's a giant shit on the eggs now, and my Welsummer is sitting on it. I am at a loss as to what to do. Do I take the eggs or what? I don't even know. Someone's sitting on them, which is fantastic, I don't really care.
The whole point was to experiment with using a broody to hatch eggs, cause I didn't want to brood more babies in my house! Since I am already broody quail babies.
And this broody butthole dips out on THE LAST DAY?! What on earth?!
I don't even know if I should attempt to take the eggs or... clean out the nest box some how. Today is supposed to be hatch day! I really don't want to bother them... Ugh. Usually I get a feeling of what to do, of what "feels" right to do. I've got nothing. Hahahha. sigh
Edit to add: went back to the coop and found that no one was on the nest. So I took the eggs and put them in the incubator with the quail eggs. I know this is not an ideal situation. But, it's all I could do. Damn.
Thank you for this story! We are going to get chickens next year, and will have to deal with similar issues. I'm sure we'll be asking more questions of you and others who have the experience! :)
A year ago, I didn't even know there were different types of chickens. Well, I knew there were roosters... :)
Hahah you will love having them!! Please feel free to ask me ANYTHING! :)
I will probably add this story to my newest post when I make it today because I had some of the eggs hatch!! :) Stay tuuuuuuned!
Thanks, I know I will need advice so appreciate it!
First question: what breeds should we consider? Probably want 6 to 12 chickens. The hen house and hen pen are already built, I don't have dimensions but the house is probably 6' x 6' and 7 or 8' tall. The pen is probably 10' x 20' -- is there a maximum chickens per square footage calculation or something? We're near Boston, MA, in terms of weather.
This is a great question to ask! I’ll have to get a minute to jump on the computer for more detailed info, but some resources to look into about hardy breeds is The Livestock Conservancy, if you’re interested in heritage breeds (check out my Homestead Bucket List post for a blurb about heritage breeds), and even looking at My Pet Chicken website for good details on breeds.
When I get a minute to go to the computer I’ll reply some more! :)
So, there are lots of things out there that state what the "appropriate sized" coop is for however many birds. They typically will say 4 square feet per bird in the coop. And 10 square feet per bird in the run. Mine free range so I don't pay attention to the space suggestions because they only sleep in the coop and cuddle close on the roosts. So make sure the roosts have enough room, at least 8-12" per bird.
How cold does it get there? I would just make sure to get cold hardy breeds. Not hard to find, chickens are fairly cold hardy as it is. I would just steer clear of bantams (mini-sized chickens). Try to get ones with smaller combs, larger combs are more susceptible to frost bite, though, there are ways to mitigate and help prevent that.
Are you at all picky about egg color? I picked my chickens based on the color of the eggs they should lay, that was important to me (silly, I know, but it makes me happy!).
My personal favorites are Blue Langshans and Salmon Faverolles. They both dual purpose (meat and egg) and heritage birds. I like Easter Eggers cause they're hardy mixed birds who lay colored eggs. :D I have 7 different breeds.