Fine Feathered Friends

 “I dream of a better tomorrow where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Three weeks ago yesterday we put 10 eggs under a broody hen.  If she wanted to set, well, we'll let her set.  We need to make up for the 30-something odd hens we lost to the minks.  Fortunately, since we've been locking them up every night behind a hardware cloth lined cage, we haven't lost any.  We have about 30 hens left.  

Yesterday after church, Tricia said, "Hey, it's been three weeks.  I wanna go check and see if the broody hen hatched out any babies."  She came back in and said, "Yep, I see three baby chicks so far." 

O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!  - Matthew 23:37

That is such a touching metaphor.  You can see how the hen protects her chicks.  When we walk up, the chicks scurry under her protective wings.  She fluffs up her feathers to make herself look larger than she is and makes noises to let you know not to mess with her.  

It's a dangerous world out there for a newborn chick.  There are many predators lurking around on the ground and in the sky.  Rats, Snakes, Red-tailed hawks, minks...  There's even danger from "friendly" animals.  The cows don't look where they are walking and if a baby chick gets under their feet, well, it's not pretty.

Our plans are to move the momma hen and her chicks (however many hatch) into a dog kennel that we'll line with chicken wire and let them get a little bigger before setting the babies free in the barnyard.

We have three other hens that are broody.  We'll let one of those start setting on a nest of eggs, too.  Realistically, we will have to hatch out a BUNCH of eggs to make up for the ones lost to minks.  Some of them will be roosters and we'll butcher them.  But the hens - we'll incorporate them into the flock. Sure, we could put a bunch on the incubator again, but these girls are feeling motherly.  We might as well let them hatch out their eggs naturally, the way God intended it.

Feeling Motherly

It happens every year.  You go to gather eggs in the afternoon and there is a hen sitting on eggs.  You reach underneath her to grab the eggs and she pecks your hand, "bushes" up her feathers to make herself look twice the size she is, and she makes some weird, threatening noises.  What's going on with her?  

She's broody.  That means she's decided she wants to sit on a clutch of eggs and hatch them out.  Her biological clock is ticking and she wants to be a mother.

Right now we have four of them (out of 31) that are broody.  If you take the eggs out from underneath them, they'll still sit there.  They will sit atop a ceramic egg or an unfertilized egg.  Poor girl.  She wants to be a momma so bad, she'll do anything.  Here's another broody hen:

And here's yet another.  She is in full "fluff" mode, here.  She's very protective of the eggs she's sitting on.

Tricia and I decided to let one of them set.  We gathered 10 eggs and put them underneath her in this little cage.  This way, we can lock it up at night so that she isn't eaten by the minks.  As cunning as they are, they haven't figured a way to make it through hardware cloth.

Today when I went to feed all the chickens, this broody hen got off her nest to eat.  There were only 5 eggs remaining.  I don't know what happened to the other 5.  We suspect she ate them.  Hopefully, she'll stick it out for another 3 weeks and hatch out 5 biddies.  We'll wait and see if her motherly wishes come to fruition.

Momma Hen and her 3 little Biddies

Yesterday we talked about a broody hen that we're letting her sit on her eggs in order to hatch them.  I thought it would be good today to check on the Momma hen and her 3 little biddies that are out in the pasture.  This Black Star hen hatched out four baby chicks exactly 3 weeks ago.  She had a secret nest up in the hay loft that she sat on until four of them hatched.  One of the chicks subsequently died in a driving rainstorm.

We found the secret nest about a week after they hatched when Tricia smelled something rotten.  She got a ladder and found a nest full of unhatched rotten eggs. As she carefully tried to remove them, a couple popped and she she told me that they emitted a sulfurous cloud of odor!  She persisted and got them all removed. I'm assuming that when a few of her chicks hatched, she stopped setting and started tending to the babies.  Perhaps some weren't fertilized, too.

The Mother Hen and her brood

The hen is such a good mother to them.  She's constantly watching over them, protecting them, and caring for them.  She takes them to water and we've seen the chicks imitate her as she scratches.  The chicks seem to be growing fine.  We aren't even giving them any chick starter.  They are finding plenty to eat just foraging around in the pasture and the edge of the woods.  It is much cheaper to have hens hatch out chicks rather than purchase them.

The chicks are very skittish and won't let you get anywhere near them.  The momma hen clucks and the little ones come running as she leads them away to safety.

"Come, come, little ones"

We usually keep the lid to the molasses tub full of water so that the chicks can drink.  The bigger chickens drink the water, too, so we have to constantly fill it. You'll see it is empty below.  Chickens require a lot of water in the hot weather. Sometimes they will hop up on the edge of the water troughs that the cows drink from and they'll drink out of it too.  Unfortunately, last month two hens (both Aracaunas) fell into the trough and died of hypothermia, I'm guessing.  We keep close watch now to ensure the troughs stay full.

As I followed the chicks trying to get a good photo, momma hen led them around one of the troughs and next to the fence.

That is their little trick.  When they get next to the fence, the chicks pop through the 2 x 4 holes and go to safety on the other side.  Pretty soon, though, they are going to be too big to fit through the holes in the perimeter fence.  I originally had just a hogwire perimeter fence that had 4 x 4 holes.  I had to overlay some 2 x 4 welded wire fencing over it when a neighboring dog got into the pasture through the 4 x 4 holes (he was a little, devious dog) and killed 17 of our hens!  It was tragic indeed, but the 2 x 4 welded wire fencing ended the carnage from the canine.

Speaking of the fence, some of the older chickens' feathers have grown back and they have been flying over the fence.  It is time that I get the clippers and net and catch them all and give one of their wings a clip.  I've done this to a few already.  All you need to do is clip one of them as she'll be unbalanced and won't be able to fly very high off the ground.  I've already caught some of the Aracaunas that were roosting up in the rafters of the barn and given their wings a clip.  No more chickens on the rafters after that!  And no more secret nests in the loft.