Is this a potential broody?

[bawkbawkbawk]

My sweet, sweet EE has been spending a lot of time on the nest lately. There's a golf ball in there left over from when I was "encouraging" them to start laying and the other day I noticed her rolling it beneath her to lay on.

I repeated the experiment and she did it twice more:

She will sit on her own eggs and those that the other two hens have laid. I remove them from beneath her and then she will eventually leave the nest so it hasn't become a problem. But it leads me to wonder - IF I were crazy enough to get a few fertile eggs from someone, WOULD she be a possible candidate for a broody?

Since I lost a chicken on Christmas Day, three hasn't seemed like quite enough - I would love to have a Silkie and a D'Uccle - would they be accepted by the standard-size chickens if they were hatched by one of them?

Is it more trouble than it's worth?

 

[FortWorthChicks]

I wouldn't trust her just yet.

Those are some great pictures.. I like the one in the middle most!

 

[Rock Wyandotte]

She sounds like a pretty good candidate to me. If you want to test her a little more, put 3 or 4 golf balls or ceramic eggs in a nest box and see if she sits on them. I wait until I'm sure they're committed (4 or 5 days), then I get some fertile eggs and switch them out at night. I've done it three times and it's a really rewarding experience in my opinion. The chicks won't be as people friendly because your EE will raise them by herself, but it's so fun to watch. Good luck!

 

[Hillbilly Hen]

I would say to go for it. What do you have to loose?
Also she looks familiar...... mine went broody last week, she has three eggs under her.

 

[bawkbawkbawk]

Hilbilly! Our girls are twins!

Didn't know that chick behavior would be different - that makes total sense, though. Hmmm...human-friendly is important to me so maybe I just need to go the day-old-chick route. What I can't figure out, though, is that if I want two or three different breeds and I would like to get breeder rather than hatchery stock, how do you manage the timing?

I would love to have a Silkie, a D'Uccle and maybe another EE - but wouldn't I need to get them from three different breeders?

 

[Rock Wyandotte]

I think you'll find that there are folks out there who breed at least two of those 3 types you mentioned, so I would think you'd be able to get a few of your top choice eggs, maybe even all three. It seems to me like lot's of people have both Silkies and EE's. The D'uccle might be a bit tougher, but who knows? Also, the thing about the behavior depends alot on breed as well. I did have one batch of hen raised chicks who are pretty friendly, they're Blue Orpingtons, kind of known for being docile. If you spent time with them and brought food out to them a lot they'd get used to you.