One of my hens has gone broody.

[FedUpWithIt All]

This is a first for us..and her. She is setting on 8 eggs, all crosses of our buff orps and our buckeye roo. Her behavior is out of the blue and i am still kind of waiting and watching before i get excited. Today seemed a bit confusing for her. Like she wasn't quite sure if she really did want to settle in but over the course of the day she got comfy and has not moved since.

:popcorn:

Time will tell. Please send the good kind of vibes. :7

[texanwitch]

1. Good luck with the chicks.

I took care of chickens when I was little.

[FedUpWithIt All]

3. Thanks Texanwitch. I hope we get some.

I was planning to either purchase some chicks or incubate a clutch in Feb but i'd much rather her hatch some out for us. We are planning a rotational garden/chicken run for the spring so we needed to increase our flock. That and we just love the fresh eggs. :7

Did you like raising them?

[texanwitch]

10. Sort of.

I might like them more now as an adult.

The care of the chickens was a job I had to do.

I would like to have chickens in back yard now, fresh eggs.

Nothing like fresh eggs.

My Aunt has chickens in the country, happy free chickens.

[handmade34]

2. I'm jealous

nostalgic for the days... I send serious positive vibes for a successful hatch... I used to dote on my animals more than any normal person should. When my ewes were about to lamb (late winter) I would sleep in the barn so I would be there is they needed me. Same with the sows. Baby chicks are so awesome and fun to watch

[FedUpWithIt All]

5. Thanks for the vibes Handmade34.

:hug:

Now sleeping in the barn is devotion!! :) I bet it was a thrill having baby lambs around. We currently only have the chickens, two rabbits, a saanen doe and her weaned kid (and the beagle, the two cats and the tree frog). We're working our way up to some sows, heifers and a few ewes.

I agree about the baby chicks. Our orps were a little under 5 weeks when we got them and it has been a joy watching them these past months.

What type of sows did you raise? Were they hard to handle? I have to admit, they scare me a little. So smart.

[handmade34]

12. I miss the farm... a lot!

at one point I had 12 brood sows but mostly just kept one or two. I love Duroc, but mostly had mixed breeds; tamworth, yorkshire, spotted, etc... there is nothing as sweet as a baby pig... or lamb, or calf, or chick.... I keep hoping something will turn around for me so I can farm/homestead again. I am a vegetarian now but see a real need for good humanely raised organic meat... and I would love to raise animals again. As well as a large market garden and fruit to sell... I dream of someday before I am too old. Enjoy your chicks et.al...






Pigs are not hard to keep if you just have excellent fencing. They are superb at clearing land for cultivation or such and for utilizing leftover scraps. Back in Michigan when I was homesteading, I milked 10 cows (by hand) sold the cream to a local creamery and fed any leftover skim to the pigs... Oh, those were very good days!!!

[FedUpWithIt All]

17. I miss it for you...

:hug: And i will return the good wishes so that you can find that place again.

Tamworth has long been my preferred breed. The plan, as it currently stands is to build a pen/coop in the center of four fenced areas and run chickens in one during the morning and pigs in the evenings, a green manure in the second and a kitchen garden in the third. Compost and old bedding would be scattered in the chicken/pig run.


The following year we'd rotate the garden to the green manure patch (using the old green manure as a living mulch with low till planting)...the green manure to the old animal run...and the animals in the old garden to clean it up.

I am impressed that you milked 10 cows by hand. :wow:

[Chipper Chat]

4. I once had a leghorn hen that went broody

and they are not supposed to. She gave me hell when I pulled her off the nest so I just let her sit on them. The eggs never hatched. She just didnt have the know-how.

[handmade34]

6. If I know leghorns...

she probably did her part but HE didn't...

[FedUpWithIt All]

8. ...

:rofl:

[Chipper Chat]

15. Absolutely the truth

as I didn't have any roosters.

[FedUpWithIt All]

7. Ah, yeah the Leghorns have mostly had the broody bred out.

It is nice that you let her set on the eggs. They look very serene while sitting on a clutch :)

[Historic NY]

9. cheep cheep cheep ........!!

[FedUpWithIt All]

31. ...

:hi:

I hope!!

[BanzaiBonnie]

11. That's exciting

We've got 13 hens and no rooster right now. Four Delawares, six Buff Orpingtons and three Aracaunas. And to that we add a pair of American Buff geese. I adore the chickens but I've found I really love the geese.

We had a hen go broody last spring. I ended up moving her off the nest twice a day to water and feed. She sat on an empty nest for about a week or so before I decided on the intervention. It went on for months. I thought I might have to keep it up into either her old age, or mine. I cheered the day she finally began staying out with the rest of the flock.

Next round of chicks we'll get a couple of roosters so we can hatch our own chicks. Good luck with yours.

[OnionPatch]

13. My old Delaware was the broodiest hen I ever had.

She went broody about three times a year. We had no roosters, but I thought about buying some fertilized eggs from one of the hatcheries and slipping them underneath. :)

[FedUpWithIt All]

14. Oh...I .w.a.n.t. some American Buff geese...badly.

:thumbsup:

I haven't been able to place an order yet and i am hoping i don't miss everyone's order windows. They seem to go VERY FAST. I'd like to get a gander and a few geese. They are so lovely. Is the breed as pleasant as everyone says?

Was your broody one of the orps? Someone told me not to get them because they never lay due to constant broody behavior but we wanted them specifically for the trait.

[BanzaiBonnie]

30. The American Buff geese are wonderful

They are so sweet. Westley and Buttercup are my babies.

[FedUpWithIt All]

32. That's great to hear.

You hear some not so great things about geese but people who own buffs tend to have really good things to say about them. I'll be ordering some very soon :bounce:

[mopinko]

16. god i love this place.

tia

[FedUpWithIt All]

20. ...

:hi:

[mopinko]

24. it just tickled me to see a thread about broody hens

on the greatest page. i love chickens.

[femrap]

18. Well, it's going to get damn

cold in Ohio starting tonight....down to 2 degrees tomorrow night and lots of wind. So I would make sure she is warm...no wind hitting her...a little blanket....whatever. Who the hell wants to be out sitting on eggs on the coldest night of the year.


I love animals....much more than people. I make little boxes of wool for cats in the garage and barn. They love it. Just keep her out of the wind...I'd do anything to keep her warm. Chickens usually stop laying when it's so cold.


I miss living on a farm. I grew up on a farm in Ohio. I'd just be happy to live in the country and help out on a farm.

eta: sending warm vibes.

[FedUpWithIt All]

21. We have her in a heated storage room in our house

Don't worry, she's quite cozy. ;)

We had to separate her from the flock a few days ago because our young roo was grabbing her comb when mating and he made her bleed. We only planned to keep her out of the coop for a few days while that healed up. Apparently the private space got her thinking about hatching. So we gathered all the eggs on hand and placed them in there with her, sure enough, she began shifting them around and getting herself situated so we turned up the heat in the room to make things easier on her.

BO's are one of the breeds that typically continue laying in winter without artificial light. We've had eggs from them every day this winter. Good, sweet and easy going girls.

We moved out of Ohio a little over a year ago and moved to an apartment closer to some land we purchased in WV. Gorgeous land and mountains and similar weather. We're moving to the property in the spring to start work on the first section of our straw bale home.

Sending return wishes for you that there is some country in your future :)

[femrap]

26. A straw bale home....

how wonderful.

It's funny....I had been thinking of taking a trip to WV and just seeing if I felt at home there.

Glad she's cozy...I love going to the State Fair and visiting all the breeds of chickens, goats, pigs, rabbits, etc.

[FedUpWithIt All]

33. You should take a trip down in the sspring or summer.

It is so very green and gorgeous. The people are warm and open.

Here are some shots from and of our place in the summer.


Near our future build site.



We just love it here.

[handmade34]

22. we should get together

:toast:

[femrap]

27. another animal lover?

They're great company. I miss the quiet of the countryside. Are you in OH?

[handmade34]

28. I love the earth and all the life it provides us

I feel at home and content raising/taking care of farm animals. I enjoy domestic animals, but never really kept pets.

I am in Colorado right now. I had to take a job traveling and find I miss farming more and more everyday. I have 5 acres in Michigan and have failed 2 times at letting someone live there who would take care of the land and turn it into a homestead. The woman there now is letting most of the land go... makes me sad. I have 4 acres in Vermont that is mostly wooded and can't do much with it (my kids are living there now) I have farmed in both Michigan and Vermont and hope to find someway to do it again soon.

Colorado is not all bad. Yesterday I missed a shot of a bald eagle sitting above the Colorado river waiting for a meal and then saw these guys hanging out at the side of the road...




Michigan Property



Vermont Property

[femrap]

29. Beautiful homes....

truly. I've heard good things about Colorado.

My lease is up in a couple of months so I need to be looking for a place that is more rural. I hope the Universe will guide me to a special place.

[FedUpWithIt All]

34. Your properties are lovely.

:)

[cilla4progress]

19. What a purely wonderful thread!

I was unemployed all last year and got to spend a lot of time with my hens and rooster, horses, dogs, and cats. They were all so happy with the extra attention...and truth be told, so was I, despite the societal and financial pressure to get back to work. I wish, in my suburban New Jersey upbringing and New England university education, I had somehow lit on the agricultural life as a "career path." I'm happiest cleaning nests, filling waters, shoveling the various forms of poop I encounter in my avocational existence.

Now that I'm back at work, I don't have the time to spend taking ultimate care of my critters, locating customers for the eggs, etc. I will always know that I missed my calling in not making taking care of farm animals my profession. To those who do - kudos and congrats! To those who no longer get to, even in their "spare time," many regrets and wishes that you have the opportunity to do so again - I understand how much it means to you!

[FedUpWithIt All]

23. Thank you cilla4progress

:hug:

It is tough to explain to people, who don't have the love of this life in them, how soul repairing it can be. I am happiest mucking out, watering, feeding, gathering, planting, singing to and generally caring for both kids and animals.

I'm glad you were able to have that time with your animals. :)

I will join you in the wishes for those longing to return to a simple life.

[cilla4progress]

25. Hey, soul sister - !

You, and all the rest of our tribe - those who contributed to this thread, and all those out there...!

:grouphug:

Guess I'll have to check in on this group more often!

Gotta go feed now - later...!

[handmade34]

35. out working today

thought of you... not hens, but pretty sheep

[FedUpWithIt All]

36. They are very beautiful.

The cut such a serene picture. Thank you for sharing it here. :7


I'd really like to keep a few sheep. It would be nice to learn hand spinning. I think it would be a good winter hobby. Haven't been able to commit to the idea because i may have read one too many fly strike stories. :scared:

I know Black Welsh Mountain sheep are naturally resistant to fly and hoof issues but they are tough to find.

[fasttense]

37. I had one orp go broody so badly that she sat on her eggs for almost 3 months.

30 days would come and go and none of her eggs would hatch, so I placed new eggs under her and the same thing happened (I think it was the hot weather). I was afraid she would die from sitting so long because she rarely got up to eat or drink.

Finally one of the other hens abandon her nest after having 2 eggs hatch earlier than the rest. I took her remaining eggs and put them under this non-stop broody orp. They hatched and she made the best mother. She would still roost next to her chicks and call to them even when they were almost fully grown.

Chickens are such interesting animals.

[FedUpWithIt All]

38. What a determined mother. I am glad she was able to raise up some chicks.

:hi:


I am afraid our broody has given up. A few days ago she just stopped even trying. She just couldn't figure out if she was wanting to commit. At first she sat on all of the eggs. Later she would keep only a few of the eggs under and warm but kept switching them out with the cold eggs. Eventually she just started ignoring them all together. We took a look at the eggs because we were not completely certain they were fertile and found that they were. They were all developed to varying degrees but had obviously stopped growing at around days one and two. :-(

I figure that come springtime one of our orps will likely try again.

[fasttense]

39. Oh, sorry to hear about your broody hen quitting.

I understand that they get to be better and better mothers after each attempt at sitting on a nest. So, maybe next spring.

I had an Australorp get broody around October, but I wouldn't let her sit and took her eggs away. I was afraid the chicks would freeze to death come winter. I think she will be a good mother next spring.