About a month ago I noticed a little Phoenix hen spending a lot of time in one of the nest boxes. She would leave for two or three hours at a time, but she slept in the nest box at night and spent a great deal of time there during the day. And then suddenly, a few days later, she stopped leaving the nest at all. Ever. It got to the point that I had to pick her up and put her by food and water, just to make sure she was eating and drinking. She had gone broody.
A broody hen is one that is ready to incubate eggs. Actually, a better description is a hen that is determined to incubate eggs. A broody hen desperately wants to hatch eggs and have little baby chicks to care for. I’ve read about hens that will sit on rocks for weeks at a time while broody. My little Phoenix had no eggs in her nest – thanks to the jerk that collects eggs so many times a day she often grabs them as they are popping out of a hen’s butt. (Note to self: Give the girls a break). She was sitting on one of the fake eggs. So, even though the last thing I need is another chicken in this yard, I decided to put an egg underneath her. It wasn’t her egg, but it was an egg – and she seemed extremely grateful. Doesn’t she look grateful?
OK, maybe she looks a little annoyed at the camera shoved in her face, but the point is she’s been sitting in that nest for over three weeks. And she’s been sitting on that egg for over two weeks. It takes around 21 days for a fertile egg to hatch and since we are going on about 16 days with that egg, I candled it last night. I’m new to this, so I’m just going to give you the about.com definition of candling: “Candling” is a term used to describe a method by which bird breeders check to see if eggs are fertile or not. When an egg is candled, a bright light is held behind it, to illuminate the shape of the contents of the shell. The breeder will then determine whether or not the egg is fertile based on the color, shape, and opacity of the contents.
It seems my little broody is sitting on a dud. When I candled the egg with Bernie’s ultra-blinding mag light, I saw no shape whatsoever. Like I said, I’m new to this, but I’m pretty sure a bouncing baby chick is not in this hen’s immediate future. So now I need to ask Cousin Julie how to get this hen off the nest and back into egg laying. Broody hens do not lay eggs. And egg laying is a big attraction around here for having hens. Besides, this little Phoenix is looking pretty run down. Her comb has withered and is a very pale pink.
It’s time for this girl to get back into the swing of things. Cousin Julie – expect a phone call.
So, just when I was thinking our broody little spell was about over, yet another little Phoenix hen began spending a great deal of time in a nest box. I tried to ignore it, but two days ago she stopped leaving the nest at all. *sigh* And, you guessed it, even though I do not need even one more chicken in our yard, I put six eggs underneath her this morning. I just can’t help myself. And I’m not even going to pretend she’s looking happy in this picture.
But look at that cute little saddle she’s sporting! She’s got it all discombobulated, but you can see it’s quite stylish.
And if you think she looks thrilled in that picture, just look at how happy she is to have me lifting her up so you can see some of the eggs she’s sitting on.
The red X’s on the eggs are how I marked them so I know what she’s supposed to be incubating. Those sneaky little hens will climb right up there and lay other eggs for her to sit on. I collect all the eggs each day, and just leave her the ones that are marked.
I would love for her to hatch some of these eggs, but I have no idea if that’s going to happen. I’ll let y’all know.
Oh, by the way, I added a page that has a couple of dog food and dog treats recipes. I’ll add to it over time.
Bee Free,
Penny
Chicks and Pups? How lucky can you get? That would be so great if you got some little chicks hopping around there on the homestead….you totally need to keep us posted on this adventure. 21 days for potential chicks…thats not long at all. Am I gonna see a chick countdown on your sidebar now???
No way, girlfriend. I’m not about to count my chickens before they hatch
I hope this girl will set for the required time. My cousin Julie (who has had chickens forever) said she’s had some that will set for 2 weeks or so, and then get off the nest. But I think these (hope) Phoenix’s are pretty good little setters, so we’ll see….
And you so know I’ll be keeping y’all posted on the chick status….. I’m really interested to see what the cross breeding leaves me with. It will be a total surprise. I have no clue which ones laid those six eggs – and no clue which rooster (if any) fertilized them. Although it’s hard to imagine even one egg not fertilized around here. Those roos nail anything that stands still long enough!
A mama chicken taking care of her brood is pretty much the sweetest thing ever. That Phoenix hen of yours is a beauty.
I’ve had 3 broody hens become mamas and for some reason it only took 20 days, just to give you a heads up. I had a couple of broody hens that I didn’t let sit on fertile eggs, they eventually gave up but were very thin and weak, so now I deliver some food to the little lady right in her box.
Thanks for stopping by, Sugarcreekstuff. I just witnessed an odd thing – the one little broody with six eggs (I call her broody2) got off the nest to eat and drink, and when she finished, she hopped up in the wrong nest that had 2 eggs and started cooing and settling down on them! I picked her up and put her on her six eggs, and she immediately settled down on them. Isn’t that odd? Have you ever seen that?
BTW, I totally love your Etsy shop. http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5206430 You are SO talented!
Okay, okay….no counting chickens before they hatch….I totally understand.
Wait, so she got confused? As to which ones she was sitting on? Is that common?
And I have to say that I agree 100% on loving Sugarcreekstuff’s Stuff. Shes fabulous. FABULOUS!
I don’t know if that’s common, Frugalmom. I don’t think so – but I’m new to all this. I just hung up with Cousin Julie and she said she’s never seen that with her hens. And Cousin Julie has had chickens for over 30 years. I’m hoping Sugarcreekstuff will weigh in with her thoughts. I just checked Broody2 though, and she stayed on her six eggs when I put her there.
Hopefully I’ll have a few baby chicks in a few weeks. Sure you don’t want one or two???
We too have some broodiness going on around here. We are not wanting them to set quite yet though. We found a chicken setting on 13 eggs in the barn, yesterday. We took her off of them. We are trying to hold them off about a month.
Must be that time of year, Trixi! I’ve heard from several people that have broodies right now. I don’t blame you for wanting to hold off on allowing them to set. I worry about the weather this early in the year. But mine are so darn determined I just gave in. I’m hoping broody2 ends up hatching a few. It’s really exciting! And the worst of our winter is usually finished by mid March – although this has been an unusually long and cold winter this year…..
First time visiting and am loving what I find! Gotta enjoy a blog with chickens and puppies, two of my favorite things in the world! Kim
Hey Kim – glad you stopped by. I zipped on over to your blog and I love it! I’ll have to add you to my blog roll. Great hearing from you!
Take care,
Penny