Jump Back-More on the brood

So I described the first day our 8 hens arrived in an earlier post. So let’s jump ahead to April 2012 shall we? And this is a smoking flight SO THERE!!! Anyhoo, it turns out that one of our adorable hens was not like the others: Introducing Mistah!

Oh yes, I guess the 99% success rate of sexing failed on that day they chose the chicks for us. That puts Lynn and me in the 1%. Now don’t get all Occupy on our asses, this is not the 1% you want to be a part of. Despite his beauty, Mistah was a major pain in the EVERYWHERE! He attacked Lynn all of the time. I know, I know, it doesn’t sound very threatening, but trust me, that little bazastard would come at you from behind and fly at you feet and talons first. Nasty man. He was also very randy and rough with the hens. Many a feather was lost to his libido. The hens were secretly planning his demise. I found schematics and explosives in a egg basket in the coop. We knew we had to do something.

To Lynn that something was Sunday dinner. I could not bear the thought. So while we were occasionally pondering what to do with him, the coolest thing happened. One of our hens became broody. That means she was physiologically ready to sit on or incubate eggs. For those of you who are not familiar with the process, it’s pretty simple. Hens lay an egg almost every day, rooster present or not. When there is a rooster present and he is mounting her repeatedly throughout any given day/hour/minute, he is inseminating her, just like a human. Chances are that egg ready to drop has been fertilized. And so our hen Louisa decided she was ready to sit and incubate a bunch of eggs(referred to as a clutch).  When a hen goes broody, her body flattens and she sits atop her clutch only getting up once a day to eat or drink. That is some serious devotion right there.  She no longer produces eggs during this time.  Her hen friends however, do, and those little biatches would lay one right on top of poor selfless Louisa. Unreal.  

The incubation period lasts for 21 days from the laying date and not all eggs were laid on the same day so we saw hatching over a period of a week. We separated Mother Louisa and placed her in a brooder box, the same one pictured in my earlier post, when she was nearing the 21 day mark. Lynn, Jim, and I grabbed Louisa, and her clutch and relocated her. Soon the magic began. All in all we got 5 chicks. Watching the hatching and rearing process happen naturally sure beat the ordering online way we did it the year before. The chicks would sleep under Louisa. In the mornings when I would go in to say hello, one by one a chick head would pop out somewhere on Louisa. The cutest thing ever.

So time passed and the little ones grew. This time we realized we had 3 additional roosters and 2 more hens. We could no longer keep the roosters. They were getting to an age where the fighting was beginning. Roosters may fight to the death to get top ranking. Not fun.  A neighbor offered to take Mistah and the three boys off to his friend’s farm. What became of them, we know not. L It was the right thing to do for us.

That left us with two new young hens; Daisy2 and MadeIt. When they reached an appropriate age and size, about 4 months, we tried to integrate them into the main coop. This exercise did not go well. Repeatedly we would put them in, and they would get pecked at, harassed, bullied, etc. Chickens have a very definite pecking order and they were on the bottom. To be expected. But they didn’t like it there so they did what they thought was best, fly out. And so they did. And they did again. This kept on. So we decided to keep them separated in their own coop. Jim had built one for an ailing hen last year so it came in handy. So they hang out there during the day, and Lynn and I bring them in at night to sleep in the very brooder box they were hatched in.  Except, they don’t hang out there all day. Despite having  their own fenced in space to walk around they believe the world is their oyster. And so they fly out and walk about the property. My little adventurers. I don’t mind for the most part unless they are heading for the neighbor or the road. Here’s a short video to give you a better sense of what I do all day. Lol They keep me on my toes, those two. And they are quite demanding. I NEVER thought I would be a personal assistant to two hens. Life is funny like that.