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.
Oreos and the Cobra mom
The guinea hen is definitely setting.No idea how many eggs she´s got. Easily 20. Perhaps a chicken egg got in there too. In fact, she could be due any day. I don´t know about guinea terms, but she´s got to be close.And since there´s only three birds walking about yet, I suspect those three are the boys, and the other hen has found her own nest site somewhere in the woods. May she walk out healthy one day with a trail of chicks.
Broody hen egg poachers
My Silkies are trying. Very trying. First they all went broody one after the other, in March. A little early, Missy’s, but, if you must... Then, the egg-thieving began. It’s an ongoing problem.
Two more chicks!
Yay! Three chicks from the white hen (although two are from stolen eggs)- far better than I expected, and equal to her productivity last year. I'm pretty sure that will be it for chicks from her, although I'll leave her her eggs a few more days. I'm pretty sure that will be it for chicks from her, although I'll leave her her eggs a few more days.
Second broody hen
Ah, yes, the little brown hen is now officially broody. She has five or six under her, a nice reasonable number, unlike someone else we know. What's been very amusing is that she's been shuffling her eggs from place to place every day.
Due date dubious
A few days ago the white broody got really deep into it, no longer leaving the coop in the morning, and assuming a very deep meditative state. Her due date has come and gone, and I expect the worst, that she's lost them all for being too ambitious. Yet, I hope for some hatching.
Thievery in the hen house
I responded to an altercation at the henhouse. The red hen was complaining vociferously, and this is what I found: TEN eggs! So much for leaving her a comfortable number that she can cover completely (four). She's been taking the eggs as the brown hen lays them.
Instagram.
I may not make a blog post every day, but at least I Insta.
Bite size.
