Meet the broodies

I’ve got three little broody Silkie hens, installed in the covered wagons in the greenhouse.  Amazingly, they are all from the new set of chickens.  Which is great, that means that they have learned how to chicken enough to go broody.  Impressive.

All of them are sitting on full sized eggs that I gave them.  Four each – I’m hoping for 100% germination, and the hens are petite.  In the past I’ve always given a Silkie 5-6 big eggs, but they never all seem to hatch.

These girls are all excellent sitters.  They sit very still, and they don’t let their eggs leak out. 

This little lady is patient enough to have endured the orphans spending a few nights with her in her kennel.

This one is vicious.  She’s so small, but she’s not afraid to peck.  She´ll just hammer away at my hand like a woodpecker when I reach in for anything, like to change her hay.  Food refills are tolerated. She’s always moving her eggs around or turning circles on them, arranging her nest to her satisfaction, but she doesn’t let any of them get away.

The first two went broody at the same time, and are due very soon.  This one went broody most recently, and is occupying a cardboard box in a chickery, waiting for a vacancy in a broody kennel suite.  She hangs out all day with her beak over her water dish, so I know she’s staying hydrated in the heat.