The brown hen has been coming into the porch for the last couple of weeks to lay her eggs. The other day, the Sage went outside and shut the door, not realising she was in there and I found her a while later, pacing anxiously. Today, I heard a sound at the door and thought it was the postman. I went out to discover that she was tapping from the outside, wanting to come in. Later, I needed to go out myself and checked, and was rather dismayed to find her sitting, blissed out, in the straw-lined box that the Sage had kindly left for her. I didn’t want to leave her, and I don’t want her going broody in such an inconvenient place (it gets very hot in there in the morning) so I picked her up, plonked her outside and left a handful of corn. Fortunately, she stood up after a couple of minutes and began to eat it. I’ve warned the Sage to keep an eye on her, but sometimes you can’t stop a chicken getting broody. I feel so sorry for them, sitting on eggs that will never hatch.
In other animal news, I didn’t mention that Big Pinkie came to stay yesterday. No. 400 is still here and they settled down together at once, both being placid and friendly. Pinkie comes to the gate to be fed apples, as she always used to. The grass has started to grow nicely after the rain, and the two of them wander round the field finding good grazing spots together. It’s all very comfortable and bucolic.
Congrats on your post title. Had me laughing, always a good way to start the day.
I thought bantams laying unfertilised eggs was the idea?
I came across some fairly robust poultry-keeping practices when we lived in Deepest Nairnshire. Here are some for you to brood (or even ruminate) over:
1. A bucket of cold water thrown over the broody hen soon cures it
2. We always had a few china eggs about to insert under broody hens (being too soft-hearted to contemplate the water trick) to ensure no waste of eggs
3. Sovereign method of cleaning chimneys – I would have mentioned this when you were writing about birds in chimneys some weeks ago, but we must have been away – was to drop a hen down. (We used to use a jagged stone covered with heather roots on a rope and jiggle it up and down. Hence the once-popular Scots comic song ‘Stap yer jigglin’, Jock’.)
Over to Rog for further comment.
Well at least she has the good taste to choose an ideal location (for her). Comfortable, and she gets corn if booted out. Hens aren’t as dum as they seem sometimes.
We are still chucking her out at regular intervals. She
Is still eating, so can’t be that broody.
We do not have a cockerel at present or else we wouldn’t mind a few sitting hens.
Thank you, Christopher. Very helpful.
The corn is kept in the porch too, Boy, so she is sure of food, whatever happens..