Crow (our black hen) has dutifully been sitting on her nest of eggs. Except…sometimes ‘others’ have gotten in her way…or messed up her mothering plan. Our chickens have 4 nest boxes to lay their eggs, but they like one box best. In fact they will often lay an egg on the ground instead of the other boxes, when another chicken is sitting in their favorite box.
Crow became broody and started sitting on 6 eggs in ‘the’ favorite box. My Loving Spouse could see this might be a problem, so he cleaned up a box the hens never use and set her eggs there for her to sit on. The only problem was that chickens are not the brightest bulb in the pack. I soon (we hope) found Crow sitting on one egg back in the favorite box and the six…they’d been stranded. I quickly moved the six eggs back under her in the favorite box…7 eggs total.
I never see Crow off the nest, so I started putting a handful of feed down in front of her each afternoon. My Loving Spouse feds in the morning and says he’s seen her off occasionally and that there are 9 eggs in the nest…so obviously when she’s does get off for water etc, the other hens jump up and use their favorite box.
Yesterday, I found one of the Lucy’s sitting on the eggs..poorly and an unhappy Crow waiting nearby for her box.
I bumped Lucy out of the box with much cackling to find…13 eggs in the nest! Hatching? If any of them have made it…could start this weekend, if poor old Crow is lucky.
Never a dull moment out there. I’m learning so much about farm animals from you. Quite an education for a city girl! Hope those chicks start to hatch!
Me too!