Fluffy Butt Acres: Stories of our flock

[LozzyR]

Screeching beach ball” ! I love it!

My favourite quote is “fluffy screeching pancake”.

 

[BY Bob]

very horny rooster? FB is ok just got really scared. thanks for caring

Ah. Ok. I get it now. Thanks for educating me.

 

[LozzyR]

very horny rooster? FB is ok just got really scared. thanks for caring

Give him one of @Shadrach ’s leather boots.

 

[LozzyR]

I was fortunate enough to watch Maleficent leave the nest on a regular basis while she was broody. I know it was at least twice a day and maybe 3 times. She would come boiling out of the coop. Relive herself, eat, drink, and groom. 15 minutes tops and then she would head back in.

I did not teach her this. No one did. Somehow she knew. Here she is.

Aww, dear Mal.

 

[BY Bob]

Aww, dear Mal.

It was nice to see her again.

 

[LozzyR]

It was nice to see her again.

I should post some pictures of my dearly departed girls. I had the thought of starting my own thread one day, but I don’t think I’d be able to keep up with four threads! I’m happy enough posting stuff on your thread, if it’s ok with you.

 

[MaryJanet]

My keeping circumstances may well produce a different outcome. Very approximately one third by weight of a hens food consumption goes to produce an egg.
All the broody hens here start to increase their daily food intake before they sit. I have tried weighing a couple but the increase in feed consumption doesn't produce a definite increase in body weight over the four days I noticed an increase in food consumption. It's a matter of grams and as such not a reliable indicator.
I've noticed a change in feeding both in quantitiy and selection up to four days before a hen has sat on her clutch. It may start earlier, particularly in feed selection.
The hen knows she is going to sit on her clutch some time before actually sitting. How far in advance is an interesting topic.
She also knows that once she has sat the opportunity for feeding is reduced. Those first few days, not only is her feeding opportunity reduced, but she may also lay eggs for up to three more days. It makes sense to have a store of nutrients above her normal daily requirements.
She also knows that once the chicks have started to hatch she may be confined to the nest for 48 hours of more and once hatching is complete, the vast majority of any food she finds will get fed to the chicks. It makes sense therefor for a hen to try to maintain her feed intake when sitting. In theory at least, if she is not having to divert nutrients to egg making then she can consume one third less than usual and still maintain a healthy body weight.
I have not detected any noticeable reduction in a sitting hens body weight here when sitting on eggs. Granted I make sure that food is available but even in the wild, hens choose their reproduction time partly by season. The spring for example is likely to provide better foraging opportunities than winter.
I have a rough idea of the quantity of feed consumed by a hen on a daily basis.
A not particularly pleasant experiment was to weigh the notorious broody poop. It seems that what comes out in one or two goes is very similar to what went in by weight and that is very similar to what she would consume daily when not broody, but reduced by a little under a third.
It would seem therefore that a hen given a adequate forage/feed is able to maintain her bodyweight and the notion that sitting is hard on a hen and they necessarily lose weight and condition is false.
This makes sense for species survival and can be seen in humans and other creatures.
Pregnant women often eat more and put on weight while they are pregnant. This is a natural response to preparing for feeding the child while having reduced food for herself. Many creatures do this when preparing to raise young.

Thanks Shad, that's so informative.

 

[MaryJanet]

How would you Spend a Cold Windy Day?

Lilly has chosen to stay inside, read her book for a while, and have some tea.

View attachment 2130418

What was she reading Bob?

 

[Buckeye Amy]

What was she reading Bob?

“Little Women” I bet!

 

[Shadrach]

I have never put a broody in a cage. Surly Girl went broody 5 or 6 times over the last year and I had to break her because we had no rooster. Now with the addition of Pippi, when she went broody I was able to allow her to sit on the eggs.

What I have done in the past with her is to take her off the nest every day, set her out in the run, and gather the eggs. This would take 3 days, give or take, and she'd be okay for a month or so until she went broody again. I was so happy when I got a couple cockerels and couldn't wait for them to grow up.

Pleased to read this as it reflects my experiences but in different keeping circumstances. It does involve some effort though. I find it hard to confine a hen for following such a natural instinct. It does seem that some are more determined than others from what I've read but one is never quite sure one has the full picture so to speak.
As I've mentioned before, I let them sit for two or three days to ensure their egg laying cycle switches off. This gives me and the hen a rest. I don't have to hunt for any new locations and neither does she.