Here's my dilemma. My DH and i are packing up our house to put it on the market to move 400 miles away. And, i have a broody hen.
My little silkie hen, Dusty, has decided she is going to hatch sawdust or whatever she can, and i can't seem to break her from it. She was camped out in the nest box, which i removed. So now she has taken up residence in the backside of our converted chicken sleeping hutch.
i feel so bad for her and am contemplating putting some fertile eggs under her - perhaps some showgirl eggs, if i can find them. But that would put her at hatching chicks right at the time we are selling and moving.
i am dreading having to transport all our earthly belongings, 4 cats, a dozen chickens, and two aquariums full of fish to the other end of the state - so dealing with baby chicks seems like a drop to much. But i do feel so bad for Dusty, so determined, all puffed up, doing a great job of sitting on nothing - that a part of me wants to make her happy.
Suggestions - do i throw some fertile eggs under her and just add it all to the excitement of moving - and, if so, does anyone know where to get fertile showgirl hatching eggs? Or, do i break her broody ways, and if so, how?
Thanks in advance for any advice anyone might offer.
My little silkie hen, Dusty, has decided she is going to hatch sawdust or whatever she can, and i can't seem to break her from it. She was camped out in the nest box, which i removed. So now she has taken up residence in the backside of our converted chicken sleeping hutch.
i feel so bad for her and am contemplating putting some fertile eggs under her - perhaps some showgirl eggs, if i can find them. But that would put her at hatching chicks right at the time we are selling and moving.
i am dreading having to transport all our earthly belongings, 4 cats, a dozen chickens, and two aquariums full of fish to the other end of the state - so dealing with baby chicks seems like a drop to much. But i do feel so bad for Dusty, so determined, all puffed up, doing a great job of sitting on nothing - that a part of me wants to make her happy.
Suggestions - do i throw some fertile eggs under her and just add it all to the excitement of moving - and, if so, does anyone know where to get fertile showgirl hatching eggs? Or, do i break her broody ways, and if so, how?
Thanks in advance for any advice anyone might offer.