A Docile Brooder Hen Is Irreplaceable

[LoveOfFeathers]

A good hen who is curious, friendly and sane is worth her weight in gold when it comes to raising chicks. Some hens are laid back while sitting on eggs but after the chicks hatch they go bat chit. I had a semi pet hen that liked to be picked up and petted hatch out and was absolutely nuts over her chicks. If a chick got startled and chirped in distress she was attacking me before I could even blink. Full force flogging over feeding and changing out her waterer. I learned to put my arm in the cage and protect my face by keeping the wire in between her and I because I didn’t want to risk getting seriously injured. I dealt with her bs hoping that as the chicks aged a little she would settle down. After a month of no change I sold her with the chicks and made sure the buyer knew she was crazy. She would be perfect for raising chicks out on the yard as she was the equivalent of a feral guinea.

I have a hen right now who is absolutely irreplaceable, Ziggy. She is a relative of bat chit crazy hen but her sire is a frizzle cochin with the best temperament ever. Ziggy is friendly, curious, smart and trusting. She greets me everyday at the door while calling happily to her little ones. This is her first hatch and I’m in awe of her intelligence. She trained me, ha,ha… by day three of chick rearing she had learned that I clean all of the wood shavings out of the waterer. Ziggy would greet me at the door, start the happy I found something call and run over to the waterer, it had shavings in it. As soon as I cleaned it out she was absolutely ecstatic. Ziggy also keeps her food dish tidy and doesn’t sling food out or crap in it. I can handle her and her chicks with ease. She knows that I don’t mean any harm.

 

[wrathsfarm]

You got yourself a good one. She's a keeper.
I've only had 2 broody's so far, both Black Copper Marans. First was my Joannie (Head hen) absolute joy, and perfect momma. Didn't wean her babies til somewhere in the 10 week area. Was hoping she would go broody this year but nope.
My second ..Momma (bottom rank)
was a little more of a handful this year. More protective and didn't like my hand so much. We came to a understanding tho finally and she did pretty good weaning off around 5-6 weeks.
I've been fortunate so far with no batchit crazy ones.