SBMom, nice find! Peachy is a bantasm cochin x EE, pretty much the only noticeable EE feature is her perfect little blue-green egg, although she has a lovely beard and muffs... which may not be cochin related... i've never done any research on cochins. your new broody will make the trip just fine, it may take her a couple of days to settle in, it will depend on her surroundings as to how quickly she'll start to sit. the instant I gave Peach my old dog kennel cab, she was set. but she didn't have to protect her spot from other hens... at this point she knows it is hers, and so does everyone else... I tried to give Violet a quiet place alone, but as a dominant hen, she has control over the front corner of the apple coop... I'll wait til her eggs are done before I move them. they are due to start hatching a week from Wednesday. I can block off the hen entryway the day before, give Violet her own chick friendly food and water right in there ... then after she's finished, I can move them to the newest pen... the apple coop is prime laying territory, I can't let her have it all to herself for more than 3 days. they'll revolt, probably unionize...
my experience is limited to Peach, but she is from private stock, not a hatchery bird. she turned broody at about 8 months, maybe 4-6 weeks after she initially started laying! she seems to follow the same pattern. she lays about 9-10 eggs, then sits. she rears the chicks til they are about 6 weeks old, then she starts laying again. but she only laid the same 9-10 eggs... about 2 weeks... then wanted to sit. but she did start laying faster the second time around, just irregularly til now, her replacement chicks are 7 weeks old, she's been laying regularly for a week....she's only a year old, and she's on her third round of chicks. I will share some of Violets chicks with her if all 6 remaining eggs hatch... she's still sitting on that GLW egg, but I'm not confident. this is Violets first round at hatching... Peach is quite the pro already... I like to think that in 5 years, Peach will be the mother to my entire flock (or the majority anyway)
ramble ramble...don't wait, go get her. give her eggs as soon as she likes her spot. I know you'll love her. Peach can cover 5 LF eggs no problem. can't wait to see pics!
) on Thursday. Then it'll be egg finding time.
