Broody

Broody Hen continues to stay broody.  I went out to check on her Saturday morning, and when I kicked her off the nest, I found these.

 

I'm pretty sure the small egg is hers.  

I was willing to just let her sit and do her thing, but hubs wanted to try and "cure" her.  Broody hens' body temperatures increase.  So one way to try and end the broodiness is to cool them off.  We put Broody in Sirius' kennel under the deck so she would be in the shade.  Then we put a fan on her to make it even cooler.

   

She was NOT happy.  She crowed for about an hour.  You can see my last post if you want to know what that sounds like.  The other girls stood at the edge of the chicken yard and called back to her.  Even Sirius started barking back.  Eventually the other ladies got bored and wandered off, and Broody settled down.  

She spilled her water over and over again all day Saturday.  I came out from painting the "baby's room" (the room where we'll keep the baby's stuff; he'll be sleeping with us) every few hours and gave her another bowl of water to spill.   

She spent a day off of the nest after her cool down on Saturday, but was back at it Monday morning.  We've been kicking her out a few times a day to make sure she eats and drinks and to get the eggs.  The other hens didn't lay at all on Monday.  When I went out this morning, I found her in the back corner of the coop in the nest she has made with another chicken laying an egg ON TOP OF HER.  Yes, the other hen was sitting on her to lay an egg.  I kicked her out and put the other hen in the nesting basket.  When I went back in a few minutes later, the hen was back in Broody's nest, and a queue had formed.  

Waiting her turn in line.

So Broody continues to be Broody, but at least the other ladies are laying again. 

And check out how pretty my hollyhocks are!  I brought these seeds with me when we moved two years ago.  Hollyhocks are biannuals, so they bloom the second year.  I just love this peach color

Sorry about my lunch box in the picture.  I just got home from work.

Happy Fourth of July!