[Ag-eq] Broody chooks was Re: garden, chicks, horses

Sat Apr 27 05:11:59 UTC 2013

Jewel:

The hen is one of my mixed breeds and I think they have some bantie in them. 
There are 2 of them and they are a little smaller than the other hens.  Their
eggs are slightly smaller than normal, but they lay most every day.  So far her
sister hasn't gotten broodie.

I love how she fluffs up so big when I get the eggs.  She looks twice her normal
size.

Nella

Quoting Jewel <jewelblanch at kinect.co.nz>:

> Nella!  Take the broody hen off the nest and put her in a dark place and
> under an upturned apple
> box.  Don't forget to feed and water her!  She will have regained her senses
> within a day or two,
> unless:  that is:   she is a bantham where the urge to sit on eggs with the
> longterm plan of raising
> chicks is very strong;  a very useful attribute if you want to hatch a clutch
> of eggs but don't want
> to have a hen out of operation for weeks;  give the eggs to a bantie:  she
> will be only too
> delighted to oblige.
>
>       Jewel
>
> --------------------------------------------------
> From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
> Sent: Saturday, April 27, 2013 12:32 AM
> To: "Agricultural and Equestrean Division List" <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> Subject: Re: [Ag-eq] garden, chicks, horses
>
>
> Susan:
>
> What all happens at the tomato festival?
>
> Yes, the chicks are getting quite curious.  They swarm me when I come in to
> feed
> and I'm very careful not to step on them.
>
> Yesterday when I went in to refill the water in the big hens run, I found my
> Golden Comet dead.  I think she was 4 years old and I don't think she had
> been
> laying much.  She seemed fine Wednesday evening when I fed, so I don't know
> what happened.
>
> The broody hen is still sitting on the nestand fluffs up real big when I
> reach
> in to get the eggs.  Yesterday she even tried to peck me.  I thought she
> wasn't
> laying, but there were 4 eggs yesterday, so I guess she did.
>
> The girls have 3 nice nest boxes up in the coop, but 1 likes to lay her eggs
> in
> the corner underneath.  The other all prefer the same nest box.  More than
> once
> I've found 2 hens in the nest box at the same time.
>
> Who knows what's going through their little chicken brains!
>
> Nella
>
>
>
>
> Quoting Susan Roe <dogwoodfarm at verizon.net>:
>
> > Hi Nella,
> >
> > Your tomatoes are far ahead of anything around here.  Even the commercial
> > growers don't have plants in the ground yet.  Our tomatoes don't ripen
> until
> > early July.  That is when we have our anual Hanover Tomato Festival!
> >
> > Your chicks are at a real fun age.  You can go in their run, sit on their
> > crate if it is not too poopie (LOL) and they will be all over you checking
> > you out.  When my second flock of black austrolorps from Austrailia were
> > about that age, I had 15 hens, they just walked all over me.  I would have
> > to be careful not to step on any of them because I always seemed to have 2
> > or 3 on my shoes after my shoe strings.  "Oh boy, big fat white worms!"
> > They would even run up the latters to the outdoor perches and try and stand
> > on my arm holding their scratch bucket up.  You will see them quickly
> > develop their own personalities from here on.
> >
> > Your older hen that wants to set her eggs is what we call a broody hen.
> > This is very common whether you have a rooster or not.  She'll snap out of
> > it and not be such a fussy layer.  Sometimes I think those hens are trying
> > to glue their bottoms on top of the eggs.  I have found that sometimes
> > scooting up under their bottoms from the back end makes it easier to sort
> of
> > tip them forward and scoop up the eggs from between their feet.  That coop
> > has hen box access from the back of their hen boxes and you do not have to
> > go inside their coop.  Of course this does not help when you have a hen or
> 2
> > that insist on laying on the floor in the corner under all the nest boxes.
> >
> > Susan
> > dogwoodfarm at verizon.net
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: <nfoster at extremezone.com>
> > To: <ag-eq at nfbnet.org>
> > Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2013 10:26 PM
> > Subject: [Ag-eq] garden, chicks, horses
> >
> >
> > Yesterday while watering my cherry  tomato plants I found several tiny
> green
> > tomatoes. The rest of the plants are growing and look healthy.  I'm always
> > so
> > excited about the progress in the garden.
> >
> > The little chicks are now 7 weeks old and no longer little.  They are
> > growing as
> > fast as weeds!  They have their own 6 by 12 dog run to chicken around in.
> > They
> > also have a big wooden crate, which they like to get on top of.
> >
> > One of the big hens has decided that she wants to hatch out some eggs.  She
> > sits
> > in the nest box most of the time and complains when I gather the eggs.  We
> > no
> > longer have a rooster, so she's wasting her time!  I wonder how long she
> > will
> > keep this up?
> >
> > On Sunday I rode Cruiser in a 3 hour, horse and rider communication clinic.
> > I
> > was really nervous because there were more people than I like in the arena.
> > Horses and riders kept stopping in front of us and I was worried that we
> > would
> > get kicked.  Cruiser wasn't relaxed because I wasn't relaxed.  The
> > instructor
> > spent a lot of time yelling at us; she's known me for a long time and has
> no
> > problems pushing me when I'm being wimpy.  Half way through I relaxed and
> > everything got better.  We spent a lot of time practicing smooth turns at
> > different speeds and transitioning between gaits.
> >
> > One of the horses in the clinic was an 18.1 hand warm blood.  He is
> probably
> > the
> > biggest horse I've ever seen.  His owner had to use the mounting block with
> > 3
> > steps instead of the 2 step one.  I was so worried about him kicking us,
> but
> > he
> > seemed like a big sweetie.  There were also 2 Tennessee Walkers, a Quarter
> > Horse
> > and a Thoroughbred.
> >
> > As usual I loved Cruiser even more by the end of the clinic.  He has come
> so
> > far
> > in the 2 years that Mike and I have owned him.  He would be an even better
> > horse
> > if I were a more confident rider, but we are learning and becoming more
> > confident together.
> >
> > Well I got all the electric fence up, with the help of my wonderful
> > neighbor.
> > Monty hasn't been out of the yard since the installation.  Yesterday I
> > walked
> > down the street and he stayed in the yard; usually this is more than he can
> > handle.  I will try it again tomorrow.  On Friday we will start obedience
> > classes.  Hopefully Monty can be turned into a law abiding citizen!
> >
> > What is everyone else up to?
> >
> > Nella
> >
> >
> >
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