August 29, 2007

• ...the maternity ward is busy!

  From this,

                                             

  to this,

                                              

  to this!

  

   

  Bertha (the black hen) and Gaudie (the striped one) have been broody all summer. The signs were obvious…wanting to sit on eggs all the time instead of joining the rest of the flock outside, not scratching, dusting, eating, squawking, and just generally being chickens. They also have this way of fluffing up their feathers when they do go out that really attracts Delbert…must be a hormone thing. Anyway, he simply can’t keep away from them when they’re like that.

  This broody business has happened to some of my other hens before, and they would lose interest after a while, and the eggs would simply be abandoned, to be destroyed. So I’ve discouraged their thoughts. I’d get the eggs out from under them each day and force them to go outside and eat and drink and be with the others for some socializing.

  But Bertha and Gaudie were determined this time. So back in June I let them set. They would move around from nest box to nest box, trying to keep straight which eggs they were sitting upon, but they seemed nervous and unsettled. Then one evening, just at dark, when I went down to close up the house for the night I found a visitor to the henhouse. Mr. Blacksnake was enjoying a tasty meal of eggs, and from the looks and size of him, he’d been visiting often. No wonder the girls had been nervous! Stan took care of him, but alas, there were no eggs in the nests….he’d taken care of them all.

  Even with this severe setback, Bertha and Gaudie persisted, so three weeks ago I decided to let them try again. I believed that their mothering instincts were not going to go away until they had at least tried to hatch some eggs. The funny thing was, they wanted to sit on the same eggs! Eventually there were eleven eggs in one box, all different colors, shapes and sizes…but they did not care. If one girl got out to get a drink of water, the other immediately took her place. Those eggs were never left unattended during the entire three weeks.

  Still, I didn’t believe they would actually hatch the eggs. Until Monday evening, when I went down to gather the day’s eggs and give them some fresh food and water…when, glory be, there was the sweetest little fluffy yellow head peeking out from under Gaudie’s wing! (Oh, ye of little faith! I was wrong!) I hollered for Stan to come. He, of course, thought we had another snake and started to grab his .22, but thankfully there was no need for it.

  Tuesday evening, things had changed. Gaudie was in the nest box, and a darling little striped chick peeked out from under Mama’s wing. Meanwhile, Bertha was on the floor, with the little yellow chick cheeping away beside her. I don’t know the baby got to the floor, about four feet down from the nest box, but it happened. And still there were nine eggs under Gaudie, along with the little striped baby.

  This evening, Bertha has both babies down on the floor, and both are cheeping away and exploring the henhouse. The little bowl of scratch feed that I put in for them is scattered around on the floor, as if the babies have been pecking at it. Back up in the nest, Gaudie is hatching a new baby. Wonder what color it will be? This is absolutely delightful!

  Do I dare hope that these babies will survive? Again, I don’t have much faith. There are so many critters around that Bertha and Gaudie will need to be constantly vigilant. (I think my doubt is protective…I don’t want to be terribly disappointed.) But so far, they’ve been wonderful mamas and have done all they should do, even though they are new at this mothering business.

  I’ll keep you posted….in the meantime, I’m going back to see what…and who… the new babe looks like…

  • 7:54 pm
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