Well, if I wanted chicks and if I had a Speckled Sussex rooster, maybe.
But as it is now, both of my Speckled Sussex girls sit all day and night, together in the same nest box (the favorite nest box of all our chickens, by the way), pretending to brood their imaginary eggs.
Yes, that's right. There are no eggs underneath them, because I take them out as soon as any are laid. Thankfully, my Speckled Sussex aren't protective and agressive about their eggs. They do make a sort of prehistoric, raptor sound and ruffle their neck feathers whenever another hen bothers them or if we peek into the nest box from the outside, but it's easy to reach in underneath to check for eggs.
All this broodiness wouldn't be such a huge deal if they'd do it in an unpopular nest box, that the other hens didn't want. But unfortunately with both hens in the favorite nest box, the other hens can't get in and they seem to be withholding eggs each day.
A week ago I was getting 10-13 eggs per day. Now I get only 8-10 eggs per day. And of course, with the Speckled Sussex Sisters going broody, they're not producing any eggs either.
My friend who went in together with me to purcahse our chicks last October actually has one Speckled Sussex roo, so it's tempting to take advantage of this broodiness to hatch out some more chickens. But I really don't want more right now. I just want the eggs. We're doing pretty well with our egg sales and it's nice to have some extra surplus to sell so our girls can pay for their own feed each month.
So, I've been doing some research in teaching hens how NOT to go broody and I've got some good tips. But I'd sure appreciate some more ideas from those of you who've experienced this before and successfuly 'nipped it in the bud'.
Our broody girls: Kipper and Spotty Dotty, as seen from inside the hen house.
"Peek A Boo!" peeking in at the two of them from the outside nest box doors.
5 Friendly Comments:
Same here! We have one hen who constantly sits in the box. We take the eggs out from under her, too!
Sometimes the eggs are smashed and stick to her! We actually grab her and take our outside sometimes to see the light and smell the ro/dandelions. !!
We also have less eggs. But since we don't sell them, no big deal.
You are lucky, that you found people who want to buy them. In our case, people are just happy to get them for free!!! lol
Wish I had some words of wisdom for you on the sisters. We have one hen at the farm that acts like she is going broody, but then decides to leave the nest box. Good Luck with them:)
I dream of having broody hens some day but after 4 years of wishing, it hasn't happened yet. I'm envious! So I obviously have no tips but I did want to comment on how cute those girls looked, crowded into that nest box.
I didn't know you could make broody hens get over it. Interesting.
Gudl,
Thanks! Yes, we've been lucky at finding folks to buy our eggs. Our neighbors like them and then we also take them to homeschool events and sell most of them that way. The people that are most happiest to buy our eggs live in the city.
Thanks Sea2Shore, I'll keep you updated.
Sugarcreekstuff! It's mostly your fault, Crazy Chicken Lady, that we decided to give our broody girl some fertile eggs to try out. hehe
So, please don't be envious. These eggs and the entire experience of broodiness is yours to share, too!
Hey Christy,
Apparently, you make their broody experience very unpleasant, so they aren't comfie and can't nest.
I don't know what's more cruel, though. Letting your poor hen sit on a nest with no eggs for an entire month barely eating or drinking and not getting any exercise.
Or placing her in a wire cage without any nesting materials and no way to get comfie to try being broody.
We decided to just give in an go for the ride! hehe
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