I have 11 hens and one rooster in my suburban backyard. Four weeks ago one of the hens went broody. I wasn't that interested in having little chicks to care for in the middle of winter, but I couldn't resist the experience of having a broody hen and brand new baby chicks! So I let her set on a dozen eggs that she hoarded into a clutch in one of the nesting boxes. After a week, I noticed that some of her feathers were missing and I figured that the other hens had been picking on her. The very next day, she abandoned those eggs and collected 4 more to sit on in a different nest! This time, I was smarter. I put her in a completely different pen, an old dog run that we used to have my daughter's incontinent cat living in. There is a nice shelter in there and the hen has been faithfully sitting on 12 eggs for the past 20 days. So, the chicks should hatch tomorrow! I am so nervous. What if she steps on them? what if they can't peck their way out of the thick-shelled eggs our chickens lay? What if the hen gets discouraged by this cold snap and just abandons them all! I can't stand the suspense...
Here is the rooster that fertilized the eggs. He's a Welsummer, the same breed as the model for the Kellogg's rooster.
Here is the chicken who probably picked on my broody hen. She's a Spotted Sussex, and she's the least sociable hen I have. She likes to forage out in the woods and she has been irritable ever since I confined my hens to the pen.
And here is my broody hen, an Austrolorp who is so sweet, she never pecks at me even when I pet her and lift her to see her eggs!