All of a sudden we have 25 new chicks & possibly more soon! Most of the summer we let the chickens in our main coop wander freely. Apparently many of them have taken advantage of the freedom & have been sitting on eggs. Sneaky, sneaky.
MAMA HEN #1
This mama we knew was sitting on eggs. We don’t always let our broody’s stay broody, but this one was out of the way, in a secluded area behind rakes, brooms & shovels in Farmer John’s Man Shack, so we let her continue. I’d check on her occasionally and she was always sitting super still without making a sound and sure enough eventually her eggs hatched. Thirteen chicks total. She was such a good mama. I wish all broodies would be such good mothers.
MAMA HEN #2
The next day – Surprise, another mama & 11 more chicks wandering around. Complete shock. I still have no idea where she was hiding and sitting on her eggs.
MAMA HEN #3
Often in our main coop a hen will go broody. Usually we end up taking her out, so she doesn’t disturb the laying process of the other hens since they all seem to lay eggs in the same nest box, which also happens to be the nest box they tend to sit in when they go broody. Well, we weren’t so diligent about it the last month or so. And, the day after spying Mama #2 & her chicks, I saw our Welsummer hen with one baby in the main coop.
MAMA HEN #4
One more mama to be. I found her behind the goat fence in the brush, under a tree. This is probably not the safest place for her or her eggs, but I’m going to hope for the best & not disturb them. I’m not sure how long she’s been sitting here, but she’s got quite a collection of eggs.
And, I thought we were done with chicks until next spring. Ha! Now that the weather is turning colder & wetter, though, we’ll move everybody back to the enclosed coop and have a better handle on babies in the making.
