- Mar 18, 2012
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I am so joining this thread! Such a happy, lovely, positive lot you are! I loved reading your adventures Teila! It is funny how my situation has changed from when I started reading this thread to now
I will try to be brief (haha ya right!) I have a lovely little rescued silver laced sebright who has gone broody. I am not even going to tell you the panic I went through when I couldn't get her out of the nesting box! I thought for sure she was egg bound! I never in a million years imagined it would be her to go broody. She was sitting on an egg that I took away and then the next day I thought let's see if she really is and laid it in the nesting box a bit away from her. Came back 10 minutes later and she had scooped it under her! So I left her for a week to see if it was real. While she is still lovely to me boy is she a devil to my other chickens lol I went and got her 4 silkie eggs to sit on Saturday. Saturday evening my milles fleur was in a nesting box...uh oh! So Sunday she was still there so I went to the farm we got her from and got a milles fleur egg and a milles fleur/silkie cross egg. Put them under her and worried how it would go with the 2 of them sitting. (Just to let everyone know Banty my sebright is top of the pecking order and Dot my milles fleur is second. They are the gruesome twosome right until Banty went broody)
Cut to today (Monday) morning and Dot was standing in the middle of the coop when I went out in the morning the eggs cold. I grabbed them and put them under Banty. Dot spent the day hanging out with the frizzles which she normally hates. When Banty came out for her quick drink and food etc Dot puffed right up and the two of them had a mini brawl. I find this very odd. So anyway Banty went back in eventually and come this evening Dot is back in a nesting box on an empty nest. She hasn't laid since Friday I believe. I am wondering if she is doing some kind of sympathy brood? She doesnt seem very committed and the fact that she is being nice to the frizzles makes me think she is lonely for her buddy. Her and Banty are the only ones who sleep on the high roost and now she is alone. I am wondering if that is why she is in the nesting box?
Either way I have clearly lost my mind. I live in town and we are allowed to have 6 chickens..and I have 5 already. I have justified it to myself that all of them probably wont hatch and that even if they do there has to be some boys so they will go find new homes ...sigh...chicken math lol


Broody drama is real and you sound like you are managing it well. I had eggs go cold when I accidentally locked the broody mama outside the coop and 6 of 7 hatched so don't fret about your cooled eggs. I would give them back to Dot if she decides to commit
I have 3.5 week old silkie/mf d'uccle babies right now. They are very very cute. What color was the silkie involved with your eggs? and is the silkie the mama or the daddy?
I had to move Petunia and her brood (^^^ these chicks) into the broody pen I was saving for Jamie Lee and her hatch because Petunia went psycho on poor little Julie Taylor and I had to isolate her. Julie was traumatized and wouldn't leave the coop if Petunia was around. Now Jamie Lee and her group are in her original pen with her buddies where Petunia and her group were and things are peaceful.
Good Luck with Banty! Glad to have you here!!!