Our Experiment with the Broody Hen

I posted about the Broody Hen a while back.  She is a determined old bird.  She wants to set.  She desires to raise a family of chicks.  Day after day, we lift her up and snatch the eggs from beneath her.  Warm eggs. Eggs holding promise of a new life within.  Instead, we turn them into scrambled eggs, fried eggs, or fried rice or the makings of a chocolate cake.  The broody hen makes noises letting us know she is very displeased with our theft of her progeny.  She fluffs up her feathers as a signal of angst and ire.

At some point we relent.  I have an idea.  I say to Tricia, "We've lost a lot of hens this year to old age, predators, and injury."  Many birds get crushed underfoot by cows who have no sense of compassion or brotherhood for their barnyard companions.  "Let's allow the broody hen to set and raise a clutch of chicks."

Tricia agrees and a plan is hatched.  (Pardon the pun.)  I put hay, a water container and feed into an old dog kennel we have.  We plan to put the broody hen in this cage, so she'll be isolated away from the other chickens to raise her brood.

I moved a number of eggs into the homemade nest and I went and got the hen, set her in her new 'nursery' and... problems ensued.  First, the broody hen was very nervous, clucking and pacing, uncomfortable with her new abode.  Then, Belle, our new puppy, came and paced in front of the cage, making the hen anxious and jittery.  She clucked and paced back and forth.  We decided to leave her for about six hours to get acclimated to her new surroundings.

The hen never warmed up to her new residence.  She never tried to set on the eggs.  What to do?  Well, we decided to put her back into her nesting box.  We put a dozen eggs underneath her and she was all over them like white on rice.  She fluffed out her feathers and gently pulled her wings over the eggs and sat.  Happy, once again.

The broody hen, determined as ever, gets the opportunity to raise a family.  We'll check in on her from time to time.  We marked our calendars that come April 26th, we should have baby chicks hatching out.