My Bantam Cochins went broody! Stealing each other's eggs, read!

[chicken_china_mom]

This is my first time having my chickens go broody, so this is exciting for me! I have Bantam Cochins is several different colors, but the first to go broody where we actually noticed her not coming to eat, was Lizzy, one of my 4 Splash Cochins. Today, we went down to check on them and my best girl Petunia (a.k.a. Pooty) was sitting with her! My Silkie mix hen Fanny was pacing back and forth in front of them as though she wasn't sure if she was ready to join them just yet. Pooty got up when I entered the room (she adores affection and being snuggled and petted), and started cooing to me, so I went over and talked to her and offered her some scratch, and she was so thrilled that for a moment she forgot she had eggs under her. Well, Lizzy took the opportunity to steal her eggs! The booger! So Pooty eats her fill of scratch, turns around, and her eggs are gone! She is looking for them, and turns to start talking to me, like she's asking ME where they are. Well, Lizzy scooted herself over then, and Pooty spied the eggs that she had half gotten off of, so she reached over and proceeded to steal them back! So far, there are only 4 bantam eggs, and I don't think just those two girls are laying them either, I think others are laying, and Lizzy and Pooty are stealing them, lol. So my daughter got the idea to slip a couple of standard sized eggs under them, so that maybe they will have 3 eggs each to share, and Lizzy tried to steal those too, lol. It was funny watching her try to roll this big ole Wyandotte egg up under, cause it wasn't fitting! She glared at me when I started laughing at her. Eventually she managed to get it under her. They are nesting together and sharing the eggs. I did notice a crack in one, probably from the constant snatching back and forth. I'll try to removed it next time I feed them, provided they actually get down to get some food! This is fun and we're really hoping we get some chicks. They will be mostly pure cochins, and I'm excited cause my Barred roo has been mounting my Barred hen (Pooty), and my Black Mottled roo has been mounting my Splash hens, so I'll be getting the black and blue chicks that I was going to work on this Spring, but they beat me to it! I can't wait to see what happens!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

I had 2 cochins go broody on 20 eggs, and they hatched all of them out and only 1 chick died!!! When one would go eat drink etc the other hen would steal all the eggs! But I never had any crack or noth'in! Best of luck 2 you!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Thank you! I can't wait to see if they can do it. I'm looking forward to chicks. I have tons of eggs in the bators, and now broody hens too, so I'll be overflowing with chicks, or at least, that's my hope!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Good Luck!!

How many eggs are they setting on?

 

[specklesmom]

Isn't it amazing how you can really tell what they are "saying"? I can just imagine Pooty when she thought YOU must have done something with her eggs!! How exciting and how much fun you are going to have with all the new babies!! I'd love to see a picture of Miss Pooty Petunia Barred Rock sitting on eggs!! I bet she is a doll and how sweet that she is so affectionate!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

Quote:
She's a Barred Cochin actually, but she is amazingly sweet, the nicest of all my hens, second would be one of my Sexlink hens, Omelet, but she isn't so much affectionate as she is just friendly. Here sister Poachy is friendly too. But nothing compares to Pooty. She is just a doll. Right now they are sitting on 4 bantam eggs and 2 standard eggs.


Here is Lizzy on her eggs:

And here is Pooty sneaking in to steal the eggs:

I'll try to get some more pictures tomorrow. The more pictures I took, the more Pooty wanted to be held and snuggled, which I thought was very unlike a broody hen, lol. Lizzy didn't even mind the pictures, but then again, if they aren't used to me sticking a camera in their face on a constant basis, they will never get used to it! I'll have to see how many eggs there are tomorrow, cause I have the sneaky suspicion that they are stealing eggs that other girls are laying, and hoarding them, lol.

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Aw, they're so cute!!! I love the lil' Cochins!!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

We've had some broody drama going on since my first posting. Apparently my duck Marion felt that the eggs, chicken or otherwise, belonged to her, and she aggressively chased my chickens off the eggs and took them for her own, and promptly deposited a little green jewel of her own. Then, my standard hen Indy, she's in with the bantys cause the standards don't like her, well apparently she decided the eggs were hers, so she chased Marion off the nest, but in doing so, she broke two of the eggs.

Then Indy got chased off by Dora, my littlest Spash Cochin hen, and then it was a fight between Dora and Indy over the eggs. She managed to chase Indy off again, but then decided that she was safer in my daughter's arms, lol, and didn't want my daughter to put her down. So my daughter brought Dora and the remaining eggs (which now consist of one duck egg, one standard egg (the other got broken in the fight), and I believe 4 bantam eggs. Dora may have deposited more eggs since then, I'm not sure. Even after my daughter moved her to the bathroom she didn't want her to leave, lol. Dora jumped up on the toilet seat and started screaming until my daughter came back and say down on the toilet and held her! From there my daughter was able to ease her back down into the little nest box she made her and slip each egg back under her. Dora was very greateful. And so Dora has been in the bathroom all day, quiet, content, sitting on "her" eggs. It's funny. I am thinking that I should probably move her box into a large dog kennel. What is the general opinion on that? Dora has blood on her comb, but I don't think it's hers. I think she inflicted the damage. I want to give her, and the eggs, a chance. I'll keep updating. I'm sure that there will be more eggs, and more drama as the weeks progress. I'm thinking of giving Dora chicks if by chance none of her eggs hatch. We'll have to wait and see first. It's like a regular soap opera with these birds, I swear!

 

[Mrs. Fluffy Puffy]

Well it's sounds like all you poultry wonna set on them eggs!!!!! Keep us updated!!!!!!

 

[chicken_china_mom]

I just checked on Dora and she is so calm and content sitting on her eggs. She was talking to me as I used the facilities, lol. She is a very happy mama.