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| Our Girl Austro sitting on her fertilized eggs! |
We recently had a hen go really broody. And by really, I mean we got her off that nest 4 times a day for several days. Now, we were trying to break her the easy way so she's start laying eggs again, but alas, we were going to get some chicks anyway so we decided to put a call out for some fertilized eggs and low and behold, a fellow chicky momma Jan, got us the hook up! She helped us find a dozen fertilized eggs for our girl to sit on herself!
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| example of broody hens |
So, what is a broody hen? When a hen is broody, that means she wants to hatch her eggs! She'll lay several eggs, or steal some from her fellow flock, and to sit on them in order to hatch them out. A broody hen will stop laying eggs once she starts to "sit" like our girl here...See how our girl Austro is all puffed up and laying flat?
Here's a video I took this morning (day 13 of egg sitting) I've got 2 Australorpes, they are the big black hens. The expecting momma is the one whose feathers keep puffing out!
How to Tell If You've Got a Broody Hen
You can tell a hen has gone broody when she won't leave the nesting box day or night and just, well, sits. Her hormones are telling her what to do, this is innate, from God Almighty, and yet, it's not really helpful if you have enough chickens already or you don't have a rooster to fertilize her eggs. Chickens can lay eggs without a rooster but need to mate with a cock in order to fertilize the eggs. Don't worry, if you get eggs from someone who has a rooster, chances are they collect them everyday and not from under a sitting hen, so don't think you'll be getting a baby chick coming out anytime soon! No, a hen's body temp and moisture level create the perfect environment to actually make the real life happen.
Road Trip To Refugee Farms!
The gang piled in the van and we picked up Jan (and her camera, she does several amazing blogs herself!) and took a drive out to a fellow chicken owner's farm to get some fertilized eggs. She was so nice and kind to give us a farm tour!
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| Someone abandoned this fella and he justs gets to roam. He sleeps at night in the barn r |
Justin and Jan take turns holding the cutest baby goat who kept standing on his momma,and of course, a super friendly barn cat Michelle's got there!
Setting Up the Momma's House!
This is momma's home for the next 21 days or so. We found this used rabbit hutch out for the trash, cleaned it up, and Kansas helped me fix up some loose boards. The whole gang helped get it together. You can allow your broody momma to sit on the eggs in the coop but run the risk of other hens getting onto her nest so we've got a 5 star place for Austro and she seems happy!
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| Started out with 12, but down to 9 |
Yes, we had 12 to start with but now are down to 9. 3 of our broody mom's eggs got cracked. Not exactly sure how but we think she just needed softer bedding. I cried...
smile emoticon However, God has used this as an amazing opportunity for me to SEE with my eyes... LIFE! I saw a baby chick in there and it had only been 5-6 days. life, blood, he/she was GROWING!!
My Broody Hen Prayer
This was my prayer that evening; "Dear chicken mommy, I pray you get to hatch out some of your babies but you taught me something so profound. There is a baby chicken real and to be seen at only 5-6 days... and I cried. How much more should we cry for all the aborted babies. How much does God's heart ache for all the carnage of human lives?"
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Happy New Home!
Here's Momma getting put back on her nest. It's so amazing how she gathers all her little eggs under her! |
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