A day or two after Memorial Day I noticed that Clucky might be broody. I watched her for a couple of days and she was showing all the signs: spending days and nights in the nest box, “growling” and raising her hackles at me when I tried to pet her, and puffing up once out of the box. She’s pretty young still at just 30 weeks--I didn’t expect this until next summer, if at all. I also recently read that young pullets sometimes try on broodiness for size and then snap out of it, but I also know that it is sometimes impossible to “break” a broody and they go on to starve if not allowed to raise chicks.
I considered my options. I could try to “break” her, but if she was serious about being broody, I’d rather let her raise some chicks. My plan would be to sell the boys and keep the girls. I didn’t want her to set her own eggs (or those of any of my other pullets except Rachel) because then the offspring would be mixed-breed, and while that would be fine for the females, it would make it hard to sell off the males. I could set Rachel’s eggs and get more speckled Sussex, but I saw this as an opportunity to get some additional breeds I’ve had my eye on.
Some time on the internet led me to Nellie from TheFancyChick.com who sells hatching eggs from some of the breeds I’ve been interested in and who is also located near enough that I could drive there to get the eggs rather than risk having them sent through the mail. So after a day of phone tag, it was arranged, and yesterday morning I went on a road trip and picked up my eggs (after checking on Clucky one more time).
I didn’t want to get too many for this first time, especially if Clucky snaps out of her broodiness before the eggs hatch, but some extras were included. So I ended up with 2 lavender Orpingtons, 1 blue/black/splash Orpington, 3 Barnevelders, and 2 blue-laced red Wyandottes. I also put 2 of Rachel’s eggs under her for good measure.
We didn’t get off to a great start. When I arrived home, I went out with the eggs and some scratch, and knowing treats were in the offing, Clucky came off the nest for her share. This was fine--it’s what she’s been doing every day, and it gave me a chance to put the eggs in her nest without disturbing her. I went back inside to give her a chance to settle back in. Meanwhile, my farmer neighbor (and the rest of central Ohio) has been taking advantage of our dry spell this week to get his crops planted at last. The tractor in the field right behind the coop must have spooked the chickens because when I went back outside, Clucky, Finn, and Goldi were pacing outside of the electric fence. I hazed them back in, but Clucky stayed off the nest long enough for me to think she’d given it up for good. She did return eventually, and now this morning seems dedicated to her task. So now we wait.....
I also have to consider how these potential babies will be raised. Best case scenario is that I can leave them in the coop and Clucky will keep them safe from the other chickens and raise them. This would be the easiest for me since I wouldn’t have to deal with re-introductions later and wouldn’t have to worry about additional housing until the boys got old enough to be a problem. However, the electric fence would be a hazard to little chicks for at least a few weeks--they could get trapped outside, or worse, entangled in it, and I would also have to start feeding everybody chick starter again until the babies got to be 18-20 weeks old.
I’m planning on another coop for Clucky and her brood--I know I need one anyway for any birds that would ever need to be separated, but the additional expense gives me pause. We could use the as yet unfinished “spa” for the inner run, and I could buy another string of fence which my charger should be able to accommodate. Steve, with visions of chicken hoarding is mentally rolling his eyes. Stay tuned.....
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