Marigold wants to be a mom

[Mildly Cranky]

This is Marigold. She is between 7 and 8 months old. She began laying about 5 or 6 weeks ago and has decided she would like to be a mom. She is faithfully sitting on a ceramic egg and has been for about 4 days. I move her out of the nesting box multiple times a day but she is persistent. Marigold might not know it, but she would be a lousy mom. She is a bit of a bully and would probably make her children cry. I plan to remove the ceramic eggs tonight and see what she thinks about that. She might shank me in my sleep. She really is that mean.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have an Atilla the Hen. She's an amazing mother, in the sense that she protects her babies from any and all, including me, with every tool and weapon at her disposal. We gave her (and her sister, SweetMom) a couple of eggs to hatch. The each hatched one and co-parented two baby cockerels for about four weeks, successfully integrating them and teaching them to roost in the Big House. Fast forward a month or so, they both go broody again and this time I give them 21 chicks I'd previously ordered and once again they do a superb job of co-parenting, only Atilla is like 10 times, more ... um ... serious about her job. Nine weeks later she has quit parenting and may be going broody again, but she did not lose a single chick. She's amazing, if a little frightening, lol. Why not give your Atilla an egg or two and see how she does?

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Oh. When we gave Atilla the chicks, it was like giving them to an alligator. All I could do was basically throw them in the brooder at her and hope for the best. I was more than half afraid she would murder them on the spot. But her mothering instincts were spot on. Once she scared me off, she gathered them under her and settled right down. She and SweetMom kind of duked it out about who got what chicks and SweetMom ended up with eight of them, although they were all in the same brooder. It's obvious now because the Sweet Eight are their own separate flock.

 

[Mildly Cranky]

I have an Atilla the Hen. She's an amazing mother, in the sense that she protects her babies from any and all, including me, with every tool and weapon at her disposal. We gave her (and her sister, SweetMom) a couple of eggs to hatch. The each hatched one and co-parented two baby cockerels for about four weeks, successfully integrating them and teaching them to roost in the Big House. Fast forward a month or so, they both go broody again and this time I give them 21 chicks I'd previously ordered and once again they do a superb job of co-parenting, only Atilla is like 10 times, more ... um ... serious about her job. Nine weeks later she has quit parenting and may be going broody again, but she did not lose a single chick. She's amazing, if a little frightening, lol. Why not give your Atilla an egg or two and see how she does?

I have no rooster so I'd have to go on a hunt for eggs or chicks. And as entertaining as they are, I really wasn't in the market for a flock expansion! But maybe I can contact the little local hatchery she came from and see if they have a couple of eggs. I just didn't expect broodiness out of essentially a teenager.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

I have no rooster so I'd have to go on a hunt for eggs or chicks. And as entertaining as they are, I really wasn't in the market for a flock expansion! But maybe I can contact the little local hatchery she came from and see if they have a couple of eggs. I just didn't expect broodiness out of essentially a teenager.

I was surprised when my two lavender EE went broody before their first birthdays, too! They actually became hens just a few days after hatching their first chicks. They look just like lavender Orps. I'm not going to fight with them. They can be broody as long as they want, I trust nature and believe they will stop when their bodies run out of fat reserves. This is based on info from @Ridgerunner.

 

[GreatGrandPa]

I have no rooster so I'd have to go on a hunt for eggs or chicks. And as entertaining as they are, I really wasn't in the market for a flock expansion! But maybe I can contact the little local hatchery she came from and see if they have a couple of eggs. I just didn't expect broodiness out of essentially a teenager.

I reside in El Paso, Texas 79936, I have a young RIR Cockrell that's just learned to crow! Hopefully we can work out a trade if you're close and interested. GreatGrandPa

 

[Mother of Chaos]

I have no rooster so I'd have to go on a hunt for eggs or chicks. And as entertaining as they are, I really wasn't in the market for a flock expansion! But maybe I can contact the little local hatchery she came from and see if they have a couple of eggs. I just didn't expect broodiness out of essentially a teenager.

My now 9 8-month-old Barred Rock has already gone broody. Twice.

 

[WingItRanch]

I have no rooster so I'd have to go on a hunt for eggs or chicks. And as entertaining as they are, I really wasn't in the market for a flock expansion! But maybe I can contact the little local hatchery she came from and see if they have a couple of eggs. I just didn't expect broodiness out of essentially a teenager.

Story of my life. My Olive Egger pullet went broody after only laying eggs for a month. I was not in the market for new chicks. She was so insistent, I went ahead and found some fertilized eggs for her. Today is Day 20 so we'll see if she can hatch any.

 

[Mildly Cranky]

I reside in El Paso, Texas 79936, I have a young RIR Cockrell that's just learned to crow! Hopefully we can work out a trade if you're close and interested. GreatGrandPa

Unfortunately our zip codes are a bit over 500 miles apart. A trade might be interesting if not for the distance.

 

[GreatGrandPa]

Yep, that's a bit too far! Good luck!