Sunday, July 15, 2012

:: Broody Chicken Update::

This is just a laundry list of things that have gone on this week; Chicken Coop News... 


A while back I posted about one of my chickens being all broody and not coming off the nest. There has a been a few changes in the coop since then. She came off the nest ...that very afternoon that I posted. I got all the eggs out of the laying box. I tossed the 3 bad eggs...candled them and YES... we ate the rest. 


The very next day...she went right back to the nest box and stayed there. Then I started noticing one of the other chickens nesting too. IN. THE. VERY. SAME. BOX!!! What in the world? 


Well, we put up with this for about 2 1/2 weeks... I finally went out and ended up keeping the good eggs again. Funny thing about farm fresh eggs...they stay good a long time.  We lost 5 that time. One I dropped and the other 4 were awful! 
I had to crack them open I wanted to see the insides...one was totally black and runny on the inside. Don't know what happened there, but I knew it was bad because it smelled. 


I don't have pictures of the bad eggs... You can THANK me later! 


I put the chickens in the chicken tractor and kept them there 2 nights and 1 day. They seem to be "over it".  They are out and about in the yard now...foraging for grasshoppers, bugs, and enjoy a little scratch every now and again. They have also been returning to the coop at night to roost. But they aren't staying there. It's funny how a few days of confinement ...that isn't self imposed has done them good! 


Since all this has taken place; two more of my chickens quit going to the coop. Jayne and Lucy; they've taken to roosting elsewhere. One is in a tree the other is roosting under the awning with The Nuggets. 
That has been quite a pain in the neck too! 


Oh...and now the latest. Audrey has started laying her daily egg out in the yard under a random piece of plywood leaning against the fence. 


So... I need to get some order in the chicken yard. Starting with placing all of them in the coop at night and leaving them there for a day or two. Hopefully, this will bring the flock together. 
The Nuggets are starting to be a pretty good size; but not ready for the freezer yet. They also do quite well at eating the 'hoppers. So again, not in a hurry for that. 

Linking here: 




~~~ On another note: 
This little chicken napkin ring(part of a set) and pineapple place mat (part of a set I crocheted) graced my table many years ago. In fact, my youngest daughter says she doesn't ever remember seeing them!
I pulled them out of hiding last week some time and put them on my table. I decided it was necessary to keep the clutter at bay! So far it's working! 




The grace of the LORD Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Philippians 4:23 

 

12 comments:

Chicken Wrangler said...

I had broody hens a while back, and 'broke' them - put each bird in its own wire cage suspended above the ground on wooden blocks. They aren't interested in eating at this point, but they WILL DRINK! The suspension cools their bottoms, and after one week they should return to the flock and behave themselves, and within a month they will begin to lay once again. The old timers used to dunk the chicken butts into very cold water periodically when the broodiness would strike. My plan is a little more humane!!! Take Care!

Corner Gardener Sue said...

My husband would like to get some chickens, but I think there is more to it than what we would have the skills or room to handle. You sure are having some adventures with them!

Thanks for your comment on my last post.

Liz @ Quirky Vistas said...

Pat, I do not know the first thing about raising chickens, Whodathunk that you have to be a psychologist and train them to behave correctly in the hen house. Good for you straightening them out. I love the stories! Thanks for stopping over to comment on my post about Simple Pleasures. Having you stop by is a pleasure for sure!
Liz

gail@My Repurposed Life said...

Pat--I agree with Liz.. I'm clueless about chickens! but I'm learning a lot from your posts!

thanks for sharing your foul happenings with us! hahaha
gail

Kathryn Ferguson Griffin said...

I love your chicken story! I know nothing about them, so this is fun to learn a little something. Thank you for the visit and sweet comment at The Dedicated House. Tomorrow my Make it Pretty Monday party goes live at 8am CST. Come on over with your chicken story and join in the fun. http://thededicatedhouse.blogspot.com Toodles, Kathryn @TheDedicatedHouse

Sunny Simple Life said...

NOT looking forward to broody hens but first I just need some eggs to be laid.

Pioneer Woman at Heart said...

Very interesting chicken story. Thanks for sharing.

The Boston Lady said...

I've been feeling a bit Broody lately, perhaps some confinement in solitary will snap me out of it too! I'm glad I didn't see the "bad" eggs, that might put me off of one of my favorite foods. You take good care of your chicks, Pat. Ann

Geneva said...

Loved this chicken story...and I love that all your hens have names. We would LOVE a little coop, but not allowed here where we live ":o( Still, we enjoy reading stories like yours and seeing how other people are enjoying them. Thanks for sharing them with us!
Blessings!

retrorevival.biz said...

Well it sounds like your gals really wanted to keep their babies! Chickens are so interesting, aren't they? Hope they continue to behave for you:)

~Cindy

Tania said...

Hi there Pat,

Thank you for sharing your interesting chicken story...

Our brooders are bantams. The bigger chickens dont seem to go broody. Bantams are very good mothers. Out of 6 big eggs (not bantams) we have ended up with 4 chicks. Hopefully we get more hens this time. We got 3 roosters out of 4 eggs last hatching, and for now the roosters have been put to good use in the freezer...As soon as our hens go broody we isolate them in a separate pen to keep the other busy bodies away so she can sit in peace lol!

I found your lovely blog late last night, but didn't get to leave a comment as I had intentions of coming back tonight (and here I am). Thank you for popping by my place, it was nice to know you were there :)

Going to have a look over your blog now :)

x

nannykim said...

Sounds like you need to teach those hens to read and just put some signs up telling them what you expect of them and when! ;-) Sounds so confusing to me!! ha!