Sooooo, I’ve been dealing with a new little broody this week. They can definitely be persistent, defiant, aggravating, determined, obnoxious, and b***hy! Tonight, for whatever reason, as I was putting up my day’s collection of eggs, I thought, “Hmmm, why not quit fighting with her and just take a chance on her?”
I pulled out 8 or 9 from yesterday’s and today’s eggs. The reason so many is because I am not sure every one of them is fertile. I did quite a bit of baking today and all of the ones I used were fertile. Yep, I checked them all.
I trounced through the rain and mud back to the coop, carton of eggs under my coat with my little headlamp on. It isn’t that bright, just enough to do my head counts after they go to roost each night. I put the eggs (4 blues and 4 or 5 browns) in the last nest she staked her claim in. I walked around and got her off the roost. She had no choice of being on the roost because I had already put netting over the nest boxes. And after I finished putting it up I watched her try every possible way to shimmy around it. Aha! Mimi - 1, Miss Molly Marans - 0!
“Who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy?”
Anyway, I set her up on the nest box roost bar and held the curtain back a bit. My light shone in on the perfect little clutch of eggs. She picked gently at the nesting material as she surveyed what was in front of her. If I could have seen her eyes I’m sure they would have looked like a child’s on Christmas morning. Ever so slowly she crawled in over them, a sort of tip-toeing, if you will. I watched her begin to cradle the eggs with her wings (I could only see one wing since she was sideways on the nest), snuggling them in and around her feathered feet and legs. Her breast was already bare as she had already “feathered her nest” earlier.
What have I done?
I have entrusted this pretty little pullet with my tiny treasures. 
I am getting an incubator for Christmas and I had planned on putting some eggs in it next week, but this freaking wild hair just came over me tonight.
I hope Miss Molly Marans doesn’t disappoint me with crazy and unpredictable hormones and up and leave her new homestead, but if she does, 
oh well, I guess. No, really, I plan on monitoring her ever so closely in hopes that if that does happen I can crank up the incubator and finish out the time in it. I don’t even know if that’ll work or not. I will just keep my fingers crossed in hopes it doesn’t! 
Oh lawdy, what have I gone and done?
I pulled out 8 or 9 from yesterday’s and today’s eggs. The reason so many is because I am not sure every one of them is fertile. I did quite a bit of baking today and all of the ones I used were fertile. Yep, I checked them all.
I trounced through the rain and mud back to the coop, carton of eggs under my coat with my little headlamp on. It isn’t that bright, just enough to do my head counts after they go to roost each night. I put the eggs (4 blues and 4 or 5 browns) in the last nest she staked her claim in. I walked around and got her off the roost. She had no choice of being on the roost because I had already put netting over the nest boxes. And after I finished putting it up I watched her try every possible way to shimmy around it. Aha! Mimi - 1, Miss Molly Marans - 0!
“Who’s your daddy? Who’s your daddy?”Anyway, I set her up on the nest box roost bar and held the curtain back a bit. My light shone in on the perfect little clutch of eggs. She picked gently at the nesting material as she surveyed what was in front of her. If I could have seen her eyes I’m sure they would have looked like a child’s on Christmas morning. Ever so slowly she crawled in over them, a sort of tip-toeing, if you will. I watched her begin to cradle the eggs with her wings (I could only see one wing since she was sideways on the nest), snuggling them in and around her feathered feet and legs. Her breast was already bare as she had already “feathered her nest” earlier.
What have I done?
I have entrusted this pretty little pullet with my tiny treasures. I am getting an incubator for Christmas and I had planned on putting some eggs in it next week, but this freaking wild hair just came over me tonight.
I hope Miss Molly Marans doesn’t disappoint me with crazy and unpredictable hormones and up and leave her new homestead, but if she does, oh well, I guess. No, really, I plan on monitoring her ever so closely in hopes that if that does happen I can crank up the incubator and finish out the time in it. I don’t even know if that’ll work or not. I will just keep my fingers crossed in hopes it doesn’t! Oh lawdy, what have I gone and done?
No, no, I mustn’t think that way, I know, but......
That’s bad isn’t it. My husband didn’t even bother. Anyway, I cannot wait for January 11th +/-.
