I discovered something so interesting the night before last that this will knock off your socks. I spend an incredible amount of time just sitting around the chickenyard, listening watching, learning so many antics of the chickens.
Micky, the white hen that loves to mother, always raises two clutches in the season, has always taken her (Ameraucana) babies to bed at night in one of the nest boxes. My chickens love the boxes that are made, they are actual boxes with lids that have a hinge, so I can lift it up. This is where she would sleep them at night, cute, to see a couple at a time sitting on the ledge of the opening to the box. Anyways. The night before last she left the babies alone outside. I was observing and she had gone in to roost with the other gals, the babies didn't. My chickens go to bed around 6:30 to 7:00, go figure, they pant and they are hot, but they like to go to bed early, kind of dumb if you ask me. Anyways, she roosted, the babies played. When it was time to put the birds locked up, Micky was roosting with the babies roosting beside her. That is cool, because I find that incubated chicks (these ones of Micky's are now one month old), don't usually roost until at least 6 to 7 weeks, they huddle on the floor. Below Micky (I have a shelf that is below the roosts to catch poop on, works very nicely for clean up), there was an egg. It was 9:00 and it was without a shell, you know, those soft eggs, icky. OK. Cool. She is obviously begnning to lay again. The next morning at around 9:00 when looking for eggs, she was in the nest box, and she laid an egg. That was 2 in twelve hours. Interesting, pretty sure I read somewhere that it takes 22 hours or so for the eggs to come through that oviduct. Oh well. Well shiver me timbers. Yesterday she had completely abandoned the chicks. She no longer even made that mothering bluck, bluck, bluck sound they make. She was now back to the typical brawk, brawk, brawk sound that hens make and was off on her own, scouring the bushes and everywhere for tidbits to munch on. I need to find out what is the trigger. Is it the egg laying commencing that triggers the stop of mothering, or is it the stop of mothering that triggers the egg laying. Do you know? It is CLEARLY something that has physiologically happened, not a doubt in my mind. My curiosity has the better of me. This was like a light that was turned off/turned on. Elaborate on your experience.
Micky, the white hen that loves to mother, always raises two clutches in the season, has always taken her (Ameraucana) babies to bed at night in one of the nest boxes. My chickens love the boxes that are made, they are actual boxes with lids that have a hinge, so I can lift it up. This is where she would sleep them at night, cute, to see a couple at a time sitting on the ledge of the opening to the box. Anyways. The night before last she left the babies alone outside. I was observing and she had gone in to roost with the other gals, the babies didn't. My chickens go to bed around 6:30 to 7:00, go figure, they pant and they are hot, but they like to go to bed early, kind of dumb if you ask me. Anyways, she roosted, the babies played. When it was time to put the birds locked up, Micky was roosting with the babies roosting beside her. That is cool, because I find that incubated chicks (these ones of Micky's are now one month old), don't usually roost until at least 6 to 7 weeks, they huddle on the floor. Below Micky (I have a shelf that is below the roosts to catch poop on, works very nicely for clean up), there was an egg. It was 9:00 and it was without a shell, you know, those soft eggs, icky. OK. Cool. She is obviously begnning to lay again. The next morning at around 9:00 when looking for eggs, she was in the nest box, and she laid an egg. That was 2 in twelve hours. Interesting, pretty sure I read somewhere that it takes 22 hours or so for the eggs to come through that oviduct. Oh well. Well shiver me timbers. Yesterday she had completely abandoned the chicks. She no longer even made that mothering bluck, bluck, bluck sound they make. She was now back to the typical brawk, brawk, brawk sound that hens make and was off on her own, scouring the bushes and everywhere for tidbits to munch on. I need to find out what is the trigger. Is it the egg laying commencing that triggers the stop of mothering, or is it the stop of mothering that triggers the egg laying. Do you know? It is CLEARLY something that has physiologically happened, not a doubt in my mind. My curiosity has the better of me. This was like a light that was turned off/turned on. Elaborate on your experience.
