Broody Hen

Meet Broody Hen

Every year Broody Hen wants to sit on eggs and hatch chicks. Every year I have to try and convince her that chicks are out of the question. She's on old hen, one of the two remaining from the hens I rescued from my neighbor. He thought being a backyard farmer would be fun. He liked the idea of going out and collecting eggs. He didn't like doing the work involved. Fortunately, the chickens were between our houses. After he let them go five weeks without food or water (don't worry, I was giving them kitchen scraps, grain, and water) I took over their care permanently. I moved them from their cramped little run to our backyard. 

Recently his wife told me she'd never liked eating the chicken eggs because they were dirty and it grossed her out to think about eating them. While sometimes an egg will get dirty, when you don't give your hens bedding, and keep too many in a small space with poor drainage, dirty eggs are the result. Well, one of the results, sick chickens and nasty smells that bother your neighbors are another. 

Properly cared for chickens provide you with beautiful eggs. 

But back to Broody Hen. This year she was persistent in wanting to hatch eggs. I failed to notice just how weak she was getting and, by the time I did, she was suffering from vitamin deficiencies and quite wobbly. I've learned my lesson and will pay much closer attention in the future.

The above picture was Broody a month ago. I had to separate her from the others because, due to their natural instincts to establish a pecking order, chickens will pick on a weak or sick chicken. Sometimes with fatal results. I ended up hand feeding Broody and giving her water several times a day to ensure that she was eating and drinking. For a week or so I would go out each morning wondering if she would still be alive.

This is Broody Hen today!

Yesterday, I let her out with the other hens for the first time. I was worried because she was still a little unsteady on legs that hadn't been used much for a month. The chickens accepted her without incident. It probably helps that she was previously one of the dominant chickens in the flock. Having her in a run where the other chickens could see her while she recovered also helped with the easy re-entry.

The ducks were not as willing to accept her back into the flock.  I kept an ear on the yard all day, checking if I heard any excitement. Twice I went out and redirected their attention. Today she is avoiding the ducks more easily. 

This is Broody Hen, with her sister Buff and Rapunzel (in front).

We call Rapunzel our exploding chicken. She's molting and does it most dramatically. The hen house is full of feathers! Rapunzel is used to being the lowest hen in the pecking order, and I think she's enjoying having more company as Broody shares some of her favorite hiding spots. Buff has been sticking close to Broody.

I promised Broody that if she recovered she could have some duck eggs to hatch next year when she inevitably goes broody. If you would like some duck eggs to hatch next year, too, be sure to check out Dobby's Indiegogo. We will have an extremely limited number of duck eggs available and the Indiegogo campaign is the only way to reserve them. 

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