MJ's little flock

[LozzyR]

It seems early in the season for broody shenanigans!

I’m just waiting for Snowy to go broody; she’s a shocker.

 

[MaryJanet]

I’m just waiting for Snowy to go broody; she’s a shocker.

Yeh. Strap in Loz! Summer's on the way and if last year is anything to go by, your hens are going to be sitting it out.

 

[MaryJanet]

I went outside to work on the funrun only to discover Ivy and Katie in a drawn out struggle over one of the six nests.

I went back inside for the time being. There are things I don't need to see.

 

[MaryJanet]

Apparently all the cool kids are hanging out in the old coop these days.

That's all five of them. Two are sitting down and relaxing. Three are on their feet.

Excuse the awful photo, I couldn't see the screen with the sun in my eyes. And if I'd moved, they'd have moved too.

 

[RoyalChick]

How are your hens going RC?

All good except Tassels is broody again. She is really taking things to extremes that girl!

 

[MaryJanet]

All good except Tassels is broody again. She is really taking things to extremes that girl!

I would've thought sitting season was winding up at your place. Is she your most committed broody?

 

[MaryJanet]

I spent a couple of hours raking up the funrun today, picking up the mess and putting it in the green bin. Then I swept over it with the magnet and picked up three-quarters of a cup of random metal pieces including a screw I'd dropped while working on the roost, three rusty old nails, a staple from when the run was built, and a thin strand of wire. The rest were just shards of rusty metal, probably from dad's rusty old cars.

So the run is still not clear of metal. I'll have to keep going with the magnet for the time being.

 

[RoyalChick]

I would've thought sitting season was winding up at your place. Is she your most committed broody?

She lays eggs for about 5 days and then goes broody. I have lost count how many times this summer.
It makes no difference whether I let her sit for 3 weeks or 3 days it still takes at least 2, and usually 3 spells in jail for her to come out of it.
The worry is she hasn’t learned self care. She doesn’t get off the nest unless I haul her off. I worry about that. At least in jail she eats and drinks.
It is quite chilly at night now and she is in a place (jail) with lots of cool air circulating under her. And still she sits.

Piglet went broody once but realized it meant missing meals so she gave up spontaneously. Calypso went broody once and was unbelievably mean. She broke skin in my hand twice when I approached (I didn’t even touch!). All the others were afraid of her and started laying their eggs in the floor rather than risk her wrath!
By comparison Tassels is an amiable broody.

 

[MaryJanet]

She lays eggs for about 5 days and then goes broody. I have lost count how many times this summer.
It makes no difference whether I let her sit for 3 weeks or 3 days it still takes at least 2, and usually 3 spells in jail for her to come out of it.
The worry is she hasn’t learned self care. She doesn’t get off the nest unless I haul her off. I worry about that. At least in jail she eats and drinks.
It is quite chilly at night now and she is in a place (jail) with lots of cool air circulating under her. And still she sits.

Piglet went broody once but realized it meant missing meals so she gave up spontaneously. Calypso went broody once and was unbelievably mean. She broke skin in my hand twice when I approached (I didn’t even touch!). All the others were afraid of her and started laying their eggs in the floor rather than risk her wrath!
By comparison Tassels is an amiable broody.

You would've considered getting some fertile eggs for Tassels. Are you worried about cockerels?

Piglet seems very sensible! Katie was the same last summer. Broody once (for three weeks), then she was done with that nonsense.

Luckily I have never experienced a hen as aggressive as Calypso. There's protecting a nest and then there's attacking with disproportionate violence.

 

[MaryJanet]

Edie seems a little more like herself today, although she took a rather long afternoon nap. Maybe she was recuperating from whatever it was that slowed her down yesterday.