To Brood or Not to Brood

Meet Broody Judy

It is kind of late in the season to be letting one of our chickens go broody.  But I just couldn't resist. Broody Judy has been toying with the idea of becoming a mother for the past month.  She would act like she wanted to brood then change her mind.  Then a week later I would think she was ready and then nope.  Two days ago I found her sitting on 4 eggs in the hen house.  She stayed on those four eggs and allowed other hens to sit in her box with her then she would take those eggs and situate them under her body.  I checked on her at night and she was still there.  So yesterday I went to walmart and bought her a 30 gallon Rubbermaid bin, cut a hole in the side, layed some bedding and waited.  I didn't want to move her until night because I wanted to get her to accept her new nest.  JBody helped me move her and her clutch after dark and this morning she was still there.  I guess it looks like we are going to have some baby chicks in about 20 days or so. 

This is really exciting for us.  The last time we had a hen go broody she hatched about 12 eggs. That was our dear Mama Fluff. She was our favorite chicken.  She was killed by a hawk last spring.  We have since added 10 more birds to our flock since she hatched her eggs.  6 of them are Buff Orphingtons like she was. Broody Judy is also a Buff Orphington.  They are known to go broody.  We were just not expecting her to go broody at only 7 months old. 

Picture of mama fluff.  She looks like she is a cranky little thing.  But she actually was quite sweet. Her and her sister Zebra would follow us around the yard, when it was just the two of them.  She would let the kids pick her up and not peck at them.  She is still talked about with from the kids.

Mama Fluff with some of her babies.

We will keep you updated on Broody Judy's progress to Motherhood.