- Dec 12, 2011
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- 3
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Meet Megpie, my finest setting hen...well, my only setting hen. and even then she needed a little help.you see meggie doesn't lay. oh, an ocassional effort now and again, but, nothing to write home about.
she's a quiet, shy loner type of a gal. in fact, the only one of her kind in the entire flock.
i thought that's why she's always hiding in the nest box. (always her favorite, third from the left).
i did some reading one night and it seemed to me that she was showing all the signs of being broody.
i'm new to raising chickens, so, once i felt sure of what she was wanting, i set about helping her realize her dream of setting and hatching a brood of her own.
we got her set up in a small coop all to herself. handy feed and water very nearby, all in a quiet part of the chickenhood.
i debated on how to go about the next phase...the all important incubation. would she know what to do?
what about the eggs? would she be fertile? since her production is so low i thought about putting the rooster in with her for about a week, but, then the rest of his ladies might miss him.
then it hit me. how to speed things along...
i gathered up the entire flocks' eggs that day (hoping that they would have a decent fertility rate) and put them in the nest and showed her what was what. she walked about the cage for a whole minute. had a bite to eat and a drink, then, most amazingly, she sat!
by the next day i was worried it wouldn't work because she had kicked 6 eggs out of the nest box. i had put about 24 in to begin with, so, maybe it was a little crowded.
she's been there faithfully for the last two weeks. she has one more to go.
i've been a bit worried about her. she's in a state of utter bliss and tranquility, quietly cooing and waiting.
waiting for the day when the chickies will hatch and she can finally have the one thing she's wanted...a brood of her own.
love,
d
