A Broody Hen

One of the Wyandottes has, for some weeks now, been broody -- no, not depressed, but caught up with the desire to hatch out some eggs and become a mother. She's been camping out in one of the nest boxes and swelling up and pecking at our hands when we attempt to see if there are eggs under her.

The nest boxes are for laying eggs -- not for hatching chicks. These boxes are high off the ground but vulnerable to snakes -- and John saw a big blacksnake in the hen house recently. Plus this would-be mama couldn't settle on which nest she wanted. Something needed to be done.

So John built a snug little brooder -- one nest, a panel that shuts with the tug of a string to keep the hen in or out as need be, and a pocket-handkerchief front yard. He used very strong wire with a small mesh in order to exclude snakes. There is even wire on the bottom to prevent any creature tunneling in. (The peeping of baby chicks is like a dinner bell to predators.)

Wynona, as I've decided to name her, seems to have taken the move in stride -- and we've put seven banty eggs under her. Three weeks is the incubation period -- we'll see what happens. I have had hens sit faithfully for 18 or 19 days and suddenly abandon the idea of motherhood -- and the eggs as well. But I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

A room with a view -- Wynona can keep an eye on what's up back in the chicken yard.

Should you want to know more about the process of letting a hen raise a gang of chicks, you can go HERE.