Monogamous bantam pullet in mourning?

[sourland]

Good luck. Hopefully she will not break broodiness. Do you have any idea as to how long she has been setting ?

 

[Meghan83]

Good luck. Hopefully she will not break broodiness. Do you have any idea as to how long she has been setting ?

She stopped coming home around September 21, so that would put the earliest possible hatch about October 11.

 

[Meghan83]

An update for anyone following along with Gerutha’s story.

Unfortunately we did break her broodiness with the move inside the coop. She stayed on the eggs overnight (they were warm the next morning) but did not go back to the nest after that. I was really sad for the poor babies in the eggs, and I did eventually bring them in to at least try incubating them with our infrared heat lamp. I had to leave for a few hours after setting up and accidentally let them get too hot. They may have perished before that, but in any case we were done at that point.

All in all, I think it’s for the best. I would not want to raise baby chicks right now without a momma hen to do it. Plus, we would not prefer to breed Feng, the aggressive cockerel who mated her. I learned a lot and now will fully expect and welcome it happening next spring! I forgot to mention before that once I found the nest (in the opposite direction of Feng’s feather pile in the woods) and realized what was going on, I was convinced that her disappearance had nothing to do with mourning him. Also, the morning I saw her looking haggard, we had just gotten over two inches of rain overnight and I think she was just soaked. I’m happy to say she is happy, healthy, and back to her old self socializing with her friends!

 

[LaFleche]

An update for anyone following along with Gerutha’s story.

Unfortunately we did break her broodiness with the move inside the coop. She stayed on the eggs overnight (they were warm the next morning) but did not go back to the nest after that. I was really sad for the poor babies in the eggs, and I did eventually bring them in to at least try incubating them with our infrared heat lamp. I had to leave for a few hours after setting up and accidentally let them get too hot. They may have perished before that, but in any case we were done at that point.

All in all, I think it’s for the best. I would not want to raise baby chicks right now without a momma hen to do it. Plus, we would not prefer to breed Feng, the aggressive cockerel who mated her. I learned a lot and now will fully expect and welcome it happening next spring! I forgot to mention before that once I found the nest (in the opposite direction of Feng’s feather pile in the woods) and realized what was going on, I was convinced that her disappearance had nothing to do with mourning him. Also, the morning I saw her looking haggard, we had just gotten over two inches of rain overnight and I think she was just soaked. I’m happy to say she is happy, healthy, and back to her old self socializing with her friends!

Thank you for the update! Good to know that she is alright and back with her flock.