Broody X 3

Broody Mama Team - Sassy, Nugget, and Bertha

Oh my!  The Broody Mama Drama team!!  So these crazy hens are driving me nuts.  Petunia, one of my 1-year-old Buff Orpingtons decided to go broody.  It means she wanted to sit and hatch eggs.  I had been waiting for someone to go broody so I could hatch a few more homegrown chicks.  I was excited when she actually got serious about sitting.  The problem is that broodiness does tend to be contagious.  When one hen starts sitting you may soon have a rebellion on your hands with more wanting to sit.  I was ok when the second hen, another young mom, my 1-year-old Easter Egger decided she would sit too.  

Fast forward to today.  Besides all the fighting, broken eggs, and nest swapping, I now have two completely new hens sitting.  Petunia, the original Buff that was sitting got somehow ousted by Sassy, one of my other Buffs (I have 5 total).  Sassy hatched 3 clutches for me last year.  She is a sittin' mamma!  The original Easter Egger, Nugget, is still sitting and now Bertha, my two-year-old Australorp has decided she wants to sit.  It's crazy.  At any given time they are swapping nests and letting other hens add to the egg stash.  Sneaky little things.

I have all the hatching eggs marked so I know which ones to take away each day that are the freshly laid ones for the day.  The first hatch day is this Friday, only 2 days away!  We should have some new chicks by Sat if my days are right and the eggs were viable.  I tried to candle them but I need a lot of work in that area!  I couldn't tell if they were good or not.

The drama continues and it will be interesting come Friday to see what we might have.  Sure hope we get some new fluffy butts and don't get overtaken with cockerels either!!

Blessings to you today.  May you enjoy your day to its fullest.