*a clutch of eggs

Over the last few weeks Rebel, one of our Buff Leghorns has become broody.  Broody is when a hen has a strong desire to sit on a clutch of eggs so she can hatch out some baby chicks!  I tried to discourage her, daily over the last week or so. That however, has changed. 

Yep. You guessed it, I gave in to her instincts at this very inopportune time!  I went out to "feed up" on Tuesday morning and found myself making a comfy place for Rebel to call home for her coming babes.  I was counseling myself through the entire process, "do you want to do this right now?", "not really but it looks like Rebel REALLY wants to do it!"  Of course she does, it is all in her name?! You can just imagine how I was going back and forth with myself, do I - don't I? The baby chick lover in me won.   Seriously, it may not be the best timing as far as time of year is concerned but I have to remember that I raised 20 some chickens last January and February. All of them survived and thrived, so I think between me and Rebel we will do a great job at raising her chicks.

We have given Frayja's training crate to her which must be like the Windsor Castle in England in her chicken eyes. She has enough room to raise her chicks when that time comes. Speaking of that, did you know it only takes 17 to 21 days for baby chicks to hatch out?  Guess where I will be living during that range of dates? Yep, you guessed it... in the barn!  I can hardly wait, I do hope I am able to capture some of that to share with you all.

Being broody is a strange state of temperament, at least in my opinion.  Rebel seems to be overly focused on setting on her eggs. By the way, she is not laying on any of her own eggs or her sister's (Ms Trump).  She will be hatching out some Easter Eggers, Barred Rocks, Delaware's, Rhode Island Reds, and or Black Sex Link fertilized by either our Light Brahma rooster (Mr. Baggins) or the Jersey Giant White rooster (Husan).  I have to make sure she is eating and drinking each day. When I go out to feed everyone else, I simply pick her up and put her in front of the water.  She drinks a lot during those times. I also hold a handful of her favorite - cracked corn, for her to eat out of my hand.  Hens who are broody can sometimes become so focused on brooding, that they forget to eat or drink.

Her project due date (range) will be the 28th through the 31st of January.  We are hoping for majority hens so we can increase our egg production in the summer, but if we end up with little roosters were already planning to raise some meat chickens this spring as well - so the roosters will fill the freezer.  


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