Too late for a "Broody"?

[frenchblackcopper]

Well tonight after doing my pre-pen feeding-watering I checked and she was still frozen stiff where she was this morning.Luckily the wife hadn't washed the chicken eggs from last night and put them in the fridge and the chickens contributed again today so I laid 3 Blue Laced Red Wyandottes,3 Black Langshan and 2 Cuckoo Marans next to her. Later as I was filling the feeder and water bowl I watched her as she beak rolled each one under her. 21 days or sooner we will know the verdict.

 

[Whittni]

Just curious... Why stop them?

-Kathy

To watch the weather, you don't want chicks getting chilled because of a fast coming winter because you want the chicks to be able to handle the weather. Unless you'd like to brood them in a good barn or inside, if you do that I guess it'd be fine.

 

[casportpony]

Silly me, I keep forgetting that not everyone lives in CA, so I hadn't even thought about that.

-Kathy

 

[zazouse]

I think most of us here have put up with some strange weather this year, it has been getting down in the 70's at night and we have gotten lots of showers also, for years we were fighting drought and 100 plus degree heat.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

Just collected eggs and filled the bator from all weeks gatherings and the purple b/s hen is still sitting with no eggs showing. Maybe she's a keeper?

 

[zazouse]

Can believe she hasn't broke any of them chicken eggs, mine never made it a week without breaking one or all of them, I even seem a peahen removing a broken chicken egg shell after she broke it.

 

[frenchblackcopper]

She was still there tonight,facing the same direction as the past few days. I still didn't see any eggs not under her so she is determined.She's not flighty around me,only if the wife or daughter and her boyfriend comes out to look.But I'm not going to bother her,let nature decide the eggs fate for once,instead of me and my incubation practices.Been so long since I incubated chicken eggs I probably wouldn't have a good hatch rate with them.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I have 2 hens on eggs. One hen had my BS purple eggs but a snake got those when the sulfur washed away!
I am not in CA but here in SC we never know what our weather may do. I do have a barn I can raise pea chicks in if I have to this winter. I also have Silkies on egg and some are not due to hatch until later this month (already August? Geez!)
Everyone's set up and situation is different but I wanted to go for it since my first attempts at hatching were such failures.

My Bronze hen, Godiva, on her nest. She has 2 of her own eggs and one of the silver pied pair.



This is a young lady of unknown age right now sitting on 4 eggs that are not hers since she is in with my yearling cock, Bridges. I still have not named this hen.




When you said sitting tight on the nest, I had to totally agree! These birds really do flatten down and sit tight. But they are so good to let me put my hand under them and lift them up to check.