the broody blues
Spring is in the air, and our little bantams are laying well. This always come with a price: the natural urge of the hens to 'sit' the eggs and hatch them.
The symptoms are easy to spot:
a distinct pong
grumbling and complaining
clucking like an unexploded bomb
the impersonation of a tiny turkey with wings held out and a a crouching posture
a 'sit down strike' in the nest box.
The best thing is to give them a bit of rest and recuperation - enter 'the broody coop' (pictured in August). This brilliant little design comes from 'Poultry House Construction' by Michael Roberts published by Gold Cockerel and was dead easy to knock together.
The little house has a wire floor to aerate the hen and a removable lid.
She will take three days to get back to normal and will be laying again within a week.
I do have plans one day to buy some grey partridge eggs and hatch and release the partridges to bolster ailing local populations.
One day.
1 comment:
Great idea, Rob! I'd never had a hen go broody until last year, when my Buff Orpington spent most of the season skulking inside the Pullet palace. I don't want a repeat this year, so a version of the broody coop may be in my (or rather, her) future. Thanks for sharing and showing!
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