MJ's little flock

[MaryJanet]

Day 17. Still no problems.

 

[BY Bob]

Day 17. Still no problems.

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Awww. Such a cutie. Hard at work.

 

[rjohns39]

Good evening folks

 

[Grammy60]

Good morning/evening MJ and everyone

 

[Shadrach]

They don't expend energy while sitting still so it makes sense they don't eat as much and use up stored energy instead.

Weight loss in broodies makes sense to me, what does everyone else think?

The broody hens in the tribes didn't lose weight.
It's easy to see why many do.
This is the theory.
Hens know when they are going to go broody. Just how far in advance of actually sitting they know is an interesting topic.
Hens also know that they may be sat on their nest for 48 hours straight or sommetimes more.
One way I found to monitor the likelihood of a hen going broody in the next few days was to watch their feed intake. The tribe hens ate almost one third more in the preceding three days to actuallly showing broody behaviour. Some would spend a couple more days fluffed up and clucking with their tribe telling evryone they had eggs and were going to sit, then one day they would be gone.
I tracked quite a few hens to their nests in the few days before they actually sat.
Broody hens may lay one or two more eggs once sat but after that the egg cycle switches off. Roughly that's one third of the hens food intake that isn't spent making eggs. A large hen may eat say 140grams of feed a day and lay a 75gram to 85gram egg every other day. All that nutrition that would normally go to make the egg is now available for the hen.
Hens also know that for the first few days after the chicks hatch most of what she finds she will feed to her chicks. In order for her to stay healthy while the chicks are young she needs to have a store of nutrients to help keep her going in the early days of her chicks lives.
Mel for example while she was broody ate on average 70 grams of food a day. Mel was a fairly small hen.
For many of the broodies i read about they don't get let out to forage or even do the basic stuff that is so important for them. Eating; they do in general need at least two goes at eating, once when the first get off their nest and another before they go back to sit.
Exercise, very important given they're sat in the same place for 23 hours.
Bathing, really important for them. Not just for hygine but for their mental health as well.
Pooping away from the nest. Obviously a good idea.
And often forgotton a bit of social activity.
So, in theory at least a hen that has sufficient access to the above should be able to accumulate some reserves.
Fudge put on 6 grams while she was sitting.
Ruffles was a reluctant starter and needed getting off her nest for a few days before she got the hang of it but she still put on 3 grams.
Bluespot kept pretty much a constant weight when she sat. She was very good at sitting and often got off the eggs twice a day, usually first thing in the morning when I fed the tribes and again for a quick feed in the evenings.
Where did lose weight when she sat but she was so concerned about her sister taking over broody duties she wouldn't stay away from her nest for long enough or venture far enough to eat properly.
I think for most females the natural strategy is to make an energy store while sitting or carrying their young.

 

[BY Bob]

The broody hens in the tribes didn't lose weight.
It's easy to see why many do.
This is the theory.
Hens know when they are going to go broody. Just how far in advance of actually sitting they know is an interesting topic.
Hens also know that they may be sat on their nest for 48 hours straight or sommetimes more.
One way I found to monitor the likelihood of a hen going broody in the next few days was to watch their feed intake. The tribe hens ate almost one third more in the preceding three days to actuallly showing broody behaviour. Some would spend a couple more days fluffed up and clucking with their tribe telling evryone they had eggs and were going to sit, then one day they would be gone.
I tracked quite a few hens to their nests in the few days before they actually sat.
Broody hens may lay one or two more eggs once sat but after that the egg cycle switches off. Roughly that's one third of the hens food intake that isn't spent making eggs. A large hen may eat say 140grams of feed a day and lay a 75gram to 85gram egg every other day. All that nutrition that would normally go to make the egg is now available for the hen.
Hens also know that for the first few days after the chicks hatch most of what she finds she will feed to her chicks. In order for her to stay healthy while the chicks are young she needs to have a store of nutrients to help keep her going in the early days of her chicks lives.
Mel for example while she was broody ate on average 70 grams of food a day. Mel was a fairly small hen.
For many of the broodies i read about they don't get let out to forage or even do the basic stuff that is so important for them. Eating; they do in general need at least two goes at eating, once when the first get off their nest and another before they go back to sit.
Exercise, very important given they're sat in the same place for 23 hours.
Bathing, really important for them. Not just for hygine but for their mental health as well.
Pooping away from the nest. Obviously a good idea.
And often forgotton a bit of social activity.
So, in theory at least a hen that has sufficient access to the above should be able to accumulate some reserves.
Fudge put on 6 grams while she was sitting.
Ruffles was a reluctant starter and needed getting off her nest for a few days before she got the hang of it but she still put on 3 grams.
Bluespot kept pretty much a constant weight when she sat. She was very good at sitting and often got off the eggs twice a day, usually first thing in the morning when I fed the tribes and again for a quick feed in the evenings.
Where did lose weight when she sat but she was so concerned about her sister taking over broody duties she wouldn't stay away from her nest for long enough or venture far enough to eat properly.
I think for most females the natural strategy is to make an energy store while sitting or carrying their young.

This is very interesting and behavior I witnessed with both of mine. Eat once off the nest and eat again before getting back on. Both Sydney and Phyllis also fluffed and clucked in the days before setting. In fact you pointed out that Sydney was about to set based upon a photo I had posted.

 

[LaFemmeKatia]

Wednesday Wherever

Thought I'd share another tea infuser. Brunch egg by Edwina.

View attachment 2864191View attachment 2864192View attachment 2864193

This is so adorable!

 

[Lexicon]

This is very interesting and behavior I witnessed with both of mine. Eat once off the nest and eat again before getting back on. Both Sydney and Phyllis also fluffed and clucked in the days before setting. In fact you pointed out that Sydney was about to set based upon a photo I had posted.

Mine also spend longer and longer on the nests when they lay leading up to being full-on broody.

It's interesting to me because Penny was very anxious around the other hens while she was broody and did receive some pecks. She would puff up mightily when anyone came near her and then ran away tut tutting and back to her safe nest. I thought she would have to deal with some major altercations when she rejoined the flock, but on Wednesday night she was snuggled up between Isabella and Ruth on the roost peacefully. Either they settled it when I wasn't watching or it was a non-event.

 

[Shadrach]

One Golden Comet and one Red Sex Link.

 

[MaryJanet]

The broody hens in the tribes didn't lose weight.
It's easy to see why many do.
This is the theory.
Hens know when they are going to go broody. Just how far in advance of actually sitting they know is an interesting topic.
Hens also know that they may be sat on their nest for 48 hours straight or sommetimes more.
One way I found to monitor the likelihood of a hen going broody in the next few days was to watch their feed intake. The tribe hens ate almost one third more in the preceding three days to actuallly showing broody behaviour. Some would spend a couple more days fluffed up and clucking with their tribe telling evryone they had eggs and were going to sit, then one day they would be gone.
I tracked quite a few hens to their nests in the few days before they actually sat.
Broody hens may lay one or two more eggs once sat but after that the egg cycle switches off. Roughly that's one third of the hens food intake that isn't spent making eggs. A large hen may eat say 140grams of feed a day and lay a 75gram to 85gram egg every other day. All that nutrition that would normally go to make the egg is now available for the hen.
Hens also know that for the first few days after the chicks hatch most of what she finds she will feed to her chicks. In order for her to stay healthy while the chicks are young she needs to have a store of nutrients to help keep her going in the early days of her chicks lives.
Mel for example while she was broody ate on average 70 grams of food a day. Mel was a fairly small hen.
For many of the broodies i read about they don't get let out to forage or even do the basic stuff that is so important for them. Eating; they do in general need at least two goes at eating, once when the first get off their nest and another before they go back to sit.
Exercise, very important given they're sat in the same place for 23 hours.
Bathing, really important for them. Not just for hygine but for their mental health as well.
Pooping away from the nest. Obviously a good idea.
And often forgotton a bit of social activity.
So, in theory at least a hen that has sufficient access to the above should be able to accumulate some reserves.
Fudge put on 6 grams while she was sitting.
Ruffles was a reluctant starter and needed getting off her nest for a few days before she got the hang of it but she still put on 3 grams.
Bluespot kept pretty much a constant weight when she sat. She was very good at sitting and often got off the eggs twice a day, usually first thing in the morning when I fed the tribes and again for a quick feed in the evenings.
Where did lose weight when she sat but she was so concerned about her sister taking over broody duties she wouldn't stay away from her nest for long enough or venture far enough to eat properly.
I think for most females the natural strategy is to make an energy store while sitting or carrying their young.

You've got me thinking about weighing the hens again. I still don't have a suitable scale.