Hatching with 2 broodies

[lizgarf]

Two eggs today, woohoo! Bettina's first egg in 2 months was torpedo-shaped, but still delicious! First omelette since October!

Teila, I have a cat carrier in the coop as a back-up nest, and the layers use it when the regular nest is cut off to break the broodies. Is that an option for Dusty? For some reason, the broodies are so focused on their nest, they don't pay any attention to the backup.

Thanks for the kind thoughts about Sarah! Seeing her was both heart-breaking and heart-building, I don't know how to explain in. She's an inspiration for sure.

 

[Teila]

Woo Hoo Bettina .. way to go girl! Tee hee Liz, you have your Christmas present from the girls .. one omelette

I was thinking about another nest box Liz but I think I am winning; I just checked on her and she is scratching around the garden ... hopefully we/she have turned the corner.

Gotta go back out and clean the cat run, coops etc. Pictures to come later

 

[Teila]

Well, we had a great day today! I managed to keep Cilla out of the nest box for the entire day and early afternoon she had given up trying to get in the coop and I could see some of her sweet chickenality coming back. I am going to keep her out until dark and then pop her on her roost. It will be interesting to see if she is in the nest box in the morning but then I have another full day to keep her out.

Some pictures from today ............

Dusty and Cilla having a bath!






Suzi

Tina and Suzi (Suzi on the lawn)

 

[texgardengal]

Hi team broody!!! Seems December is going to be a wet soggy month here in Tex. No sooner had we dried out from all the melting ice... now it's been raining and looks like it's going to continue to do so for the next few days. My kids are kinds whimpy and they just stay in their coop in bad weather. I read some posts from others on the site about their chickens tromping over snow and down to a creek to get water...some others, that they "play" in the snow. Mine didnt set foot outside the coop the whole time there was snow on the ground and when it's raining they hide out too. I dont even want to think about what the coop is going to look like with Mollys remodeling and the others being inside all day....I cant wait till the littles are bigger and for warmer weather and I will rake all this straw out to my garden and the hay/straw will be for the nesting boxes only...a nice clean coop again. I think I may invest in the feeders that hang from the ceiling....my coop is pretty small but it may work in the corners.
Quote: How CUTE!!!! Makes me want to add some Silkies to my little flock. Loved the dust bath pics.
Liz, I know you have probably said already. but, what is Bettina? Is she the andalusian/polish cross?
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I dont know why I thought Sarah had little kids...like toddlers? Teenagers...thats so tough. It's such a hard age to lose a parent. I lost my mom when I was 16. That was nice you had some time with her. There are just no words..but just know that you, and they have lots of thoughts and prayers sent ya'll way....

 

[Teila]

Good morning Team Broody

A quick update ... when I got up this morning Cilla was not in the nest box but was in the coop doing the 'where's my breakfast' dance
After I opened up the run, she was in there scratching around. I have taken the nest box away as I am home all day, but hopefully she has turned the corner.

TGG our Christmas is looking to be hot; it was 30C (86F) yesterday and humid. Same predicted again for today and 33C (91.4F) on Christmas Day. Chance of an afternoon storm on Thursday so we might get some rain then. My girls do kind of shelter from the rain but they don't do it in the obvious, large, totally dry areas, they all squish into the smallest, semi dry area and end up getting wet anyway lol.

Thank you TGG, Silkies are cute ... I am a huge fan! If Tina and Suzi turn out to be Tom and Sam I am going to try and swap them for some girls or buy some girls ... I definitely want to keep Silkies

 

[lizgarf]

Liz, I know you have probably said already. but, what is Bettina? Is she the andalusian/polish cross?
Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers. I dont know why I thought Sarah had little kids...like toddlers? Teenagers...thats so tough. It's such a hard age to lose a parent. I lost my mom when I was 16. That was nice you had some time with her. There are just no words..but just know that you, and they have lots of thoughts and prayers sent ya'll way....

I can't believe Texas stole California's rain! We have no rain forecast for the rest of the year, making 2013 the driest year on record! I've been busily updating my drip system to help out the plants I put in, which I was expecting to benefit from December rains. This is too crazy! Nothing really to do, but water the plants and enjoy the sunshine and hope the state doesn't collapse if the rains never come.

Little Grace is the probable andalusian/polish cross. Bettina is a dark brahma. I would love to have more brahmas - fabulous breed who are as sweet as they are big and fluffy. Now that she's no longer grumpy from her molt, she'll sit on my lap again, happy as a can be.

I think you thought Sarah had younger kids because she is only 40. She had her first child when she was a child herself, really, 18. Like my mom actually, who I lost at 26. I'm sorry you lost your mom so young. It's been hard enough for me, with another 10 years to prepare. No wonder we've bonded.

Glad to hear the broody may be broken, Teila!

 

[lizgarf]

Well, trying to move Rousseau and Desi to the roost at night didn't go so well. Desi sounded like he was pretty sure I was going to kill him when I grabbed him out of the nest, and he flew off the roost right away, into the dark coop. Rousseau was much quieter about the move, but given all the fuss I heard in there when I was leaving, I doubt she stayed up there, and she was probably trying to help Desi find his way back to the flock or the nest.

I remember that the woman I got my hens from told me that she would put her rooster in a cat carrier, along with his favorite silkie hen at night. Maybe Rousseau and Desi are transitioning into a different kind of relationship, and they'll always want to sleep together in a nest at night? I might need to resign myself to a poopy nest box for awhile.

 

[Teila]

Oh dear Liz, that does sound like a fuss ... maybe that poopy nest box is the lesser of two dramas
Also, it gives us the chance to see just where Rosseau and Desi's relationship is heading. In this current 'reality TV' era you may be able to sell their story! I, for one, know that I would find it way more entertaining than some of the offerings on TV at the moment; especially this time of year .. "Now, where did we store that re-run?"

Welcome back my sweet little Cilla!
Yep, I think the broody has been broken. She spent all day yesterday out in the garden didn't really give the nest box a second thought. At bed time she put herself to bed on the roost and this morning when I got up she was, once again, doing her 'where is my breakfast' dance and then scratching around in the run when I left for work. I will definitely know for sure when I get home, if she is at the run door excitedly waiting for her free range then I will definitely know that Cilla is back!

 

[lizgarf]

Nice work, Teila! Sounds like she may be broken.
I think I'll give the nest box a good cleaning tomorrow, and then try closing it off at night. That way Rousseau and Desi can choose between the roost or the back-up nest, if they still want a little privacy.
My friend came over to help me build the run today, and we somehow managed to only get one thing done, but it was the likely hardest thing - the sliding pop-up door from the coop to what will eventually be the run. It'll probably be awhile before we finish the darn thing. I sure hope the chickies appreciate it when it's all ready for them! Probably not - they'll realize it's really just for me, so I don't have to spend so much time herding them to the back yard, and it's not nearly as nice a place to forage as the front.

 

[lizgarf]

Well, that was interesting! Tonight, it was Desi on the roost with Frida, and Lucy in the nest with Rousseau! So, maybe it's Rousseau that doesn't want to sleep on the roost anymore, and she's convincing the babies to keep her company (the frizzle gene makes her a less-gifted flier than the others). Well, one last hurrah for her, because, I'm closing it off tomorrow night!

So after a week of laying, Grace is back to her old self, tearing up the garden. I caught her in the act, digging up a plant which I had managed to re-root from a branch of an impatiens which Grace had torn up before! If I am able to keep Desi long enough for him to fertilize some eggs, I will not be letting any of Grace's hatch! Her crazy destruco-digging genes stop with her!