Happy Harvest Blog
Shantytown
OMG, broody hens!
They went broody on the same day, and after a couple of days occupying the nest boxes in the coop, I figured they were sufficiently committed to broodiness and I could move them.
I carefully prepared their accommodations in the evening. Two chickeries close together, both entirely wrapped with canvas and paper feed sacks (hey, we’re not going for cute here, obviously), but with the wall between them not visually blocked. This backfires later in the story.
The last chicks?
The last broody hen is hatching her eggs (well, there's one more broody in the coop, but she doesn't have any eggs and I'm not letting her have any. It's too late for that). They're having a hard time too. Shortly after Brown Bonnet hatched, I came in the morning to find the disgustingly distinctive smell of rotten egg. This one had an exploded egg under her (so gross, but it happens - instead of growing a chick, it rots, and they're keeping the eggs nice and hot...so boom!)
The look you get when you walk in on someone in the bathroom
I didn't know she was in the bath. I thought this pine tree was unoccupied and I walked right up to fill a water bowl. I was definitely interrupting. I think I got a bigger start. She had the pine tree spa all to herself and was enjoying her privacy with wild abandon. She got over it though. *Foxy has four! Her last egg hatched a couple of hours after I was taking pictures of the three new chicks,
More chicks!
Ursa Minor's looking smug (it's funny how they always look smug or proud when they get their chicks, but it is an achievement that cost endurance and attention). Four chicks! How exciting, she got all of hers. There's one! There's another one. These two new moms got transferred out of their broody kennels into boxes and chickeries today, so I could clean the kennels for the next tenants. Daisy finally got her suite upgrade. This one (tentatively "Wolverina" is still so fierce! She only has two chicks hatched, which isn't good, but she's sticking to her eggs.
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.
Livin' in the greenhouse
The two broody Silkie hens co-hatched two chicks. What with all the competition and apartment swapping, there is no apparent parentage of the two new chicks. Even the hens don't seem to be clear. I installed both of them in the chickery with a broody box and new eggs. This is for their comfort, for protection from the amorous roosters (How I have longed for you!), and the teenagers who pile in at night. No one wants teenagers around, even your own.Broody hens are so funny, they act like it's Christmas when you give them eggs. Eggs?! You shouldn't have! Cluck cluck cluck, and they settle right on, like they're slipping into a warm bath.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
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