- Jun 19, 2009
- 6
- 1
- 62
A few months ago, a small white chicken showed up in our yard. She started running to meet us when we drove up, walking with us down to feed the horse. So we bought some chicken scratch and started feeding her every day. Then one day in the garage on one of our stored suitcases, a couple of eggs showed up. They were really small but we cracked 'em open and they looked good and we ate them. A few weeks later in a different corner of the garage, up on one of the plywood shelves, we heard a noise and found her sitting on about a dozen very small eggs. She had picked a shelf full of lawn and flower chemicals, some of which had spilled and seeped into the plywood. I collected all the eggs but threw them out since they smelled like roundup. Weeks went by and we found no more eggs and she appeared to not be roosting anywhere we could find. She didn't show up every day to eat like she used to, but we did see her every few days.
About a week or ten days ago, she disappeared. Then today, we found her back in her old chemical spot in the garage (which is a bit cleaner now), sitting on eggs, and clearly brooding. Refusing to move and pecking us and puffing up when we got too close. We brought her water and scratch, which she ate and drank. Now, I have no idea if she hooked up with a rooster. I haven't seen any near my house, but I live in a rural area and there are lots of free range chickens around the general area. I managed to snag an egg from her. I couldn't make the candling thing work, so we just cracked it open. What came out was what looked like a huge yolk. No white. Just very dark orange and runny. Does that mean anything? Could it just be a nonfertilized egg that went bad from sitting underneath her for a week?
So what do I do? Insist she move? Leave her be? She could have been then for some time, she seemed really happy to see the food and drink. Her comb is falling over, which I think means she probably is malnourished. If the eggs are fertilized, I'd rather just leave her be and see if they incubate. But they're awfully small.
About a week or ten days ago, she disappeared. Then today, we found her back in her old chemical spot in the garage (which is a bit cleaner now), sitting on eggs, and clearly brooding. Refusing to move and pecking us and puffing up when we got too close. We brought her water and scratch, which she ate and drank. Now, I have no idea if she hooked up with a rooster. I haven't seen any near my house, but I live in a rural area and there are lots of free range chickens around the general area. I managed to snag an egg from her. I couldn't make the candling thing work, so we just cracked it open. What came out was what looked like a huge yolk. No white. Just very dark orange and runny. Does that mean anything? Could it just be a nonfertilized egg that went bad from sitting underneath her for a week?
So what do I do? Insist she move? Leave her be? She could have been then for some time, she seemed really happy to see the food and drink. Her comb is falling over, which I think means she probably is malnourished. If the eggs are fertilized, I'd rather just leave her be and see if they incubate. But they're awfully small.