We have a broody hen. She was the last of them to insist on laying under the house as I was re-training them to use the laying boxes in the coop, and that was OK since it’s easier to collect those eggs. But then one evening she was still there, sitting so still that I thought she was dead at first, as she didn’t even move or cluck when I went to pick her up. I put her in the coop for the night, but next day she was back, determined to sit on her nest. I was a bit worried that she had a bare breast, but on reading I learned that a broody hen will often pluck her breast feathers in order to get good contact with the eggs.
I called Mum, to ask whether there is something I should do, and she suggested I take advantage, run with it, and get some fertile eggs for her (we don’t have a rooster). So I put some eggs back under her to keep her interested, and contacted my friends Phil and Lindy who said yes, come and collect some fertile eggs. As a bonus, they breed an old french race called Marans, which have the special characteristic of laying these beautiful brown eggs, which they were kind enough to let me have. Lindy showed me the hens and roosters, and I should get a nice mix of types.
They come in several colour forms, all very pretty. There’s a mottled grey and white ‘cuckoo’, a creamy brown ‘wheaten’, as well as black and red forms, and the roosters are handsome. I still don’t have an eye for chickens, so I can’t see how to tell a marans from a leghorn in shape, but I think they are a bit more ‘U’ shaped, with a high tail. When I’ve got them next to each other it will probably be obvious. There’s something much more satisfying about having a pretty breed rather than plain leghorns, though, don’t you think?
Back to the hen, I put the dozen eggs straight under her, and she accepted them immediately. I’ve fenced her in, and remove the fence in the morning so she can have her half hour walk and go and see the rest of the flock. The chicks are due in three weeks, and meanwhile I will make a temporary pen in the coop so she can have them there safe from crows and the other hens.