The hens run back and forth in their yard as I approach the gate. They either think its a feeding opportunity or I'm going to give them a little "free range" time. They can't roam loose continually because of all the bald eagles and raccoons in our area. An eagle would have no problem making a quick meal out of one of our hens given the opportunity. So we give the girls limited, supervised outdoor time.
When I open the gate, out they rush with their wings flapping. Sometimes they'll take flight and zoom over the grass about two or three feet in the air. They can only sustain this for a brief time because, even though they have fully feathered wings, they are big-bottomed girls which isn't favorable for long flights. As I watch them happily cavorting about, I notice we are short one chicken. This usually means one girl is "at work" laying an egg.
I open the door to the coop and, sure enough, there is a hen in one of the three nesting boxes my husband Paul built. However, there's something wrong with her demeanor. She doesn't have the patient look of a laying hen. In fact, she looks downright angry. I notice her feathers are ruffled and she eyes me with contempt as if daring me to reach under her for the egg.
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In fact, she looks downright angry. I notice her feathers are ruffled and she eyes me with contempt as if daring me to reach under her for the egg.
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"Rats!" I think to myself. "She's gone broody." This sounds like "gone fishing" but it's not nearly as much fun. When a hen has "gone broody," she decides she wants to hatch out some eggs. This would be fine if the eggs are fertilized but ours are not as we have no rooster. And to complicate matters more, the only "egg" she's sitting on is a white golf ball. We put a golf ball in each nesting box to make the hens think one of their sisters has already done her job and so they better get busy. It really helps. You could also use small round rocks but I like the white golf ball method. They just seem to be less cold than a rock. Broodiness typically lasts three to four weeks and during this time some hens will lose weight because they aren't eating and drinking regularly. Breaking a hen of her broodiness will help ensure that she will eat when hungry and drink when thirsty. It will also help with their anger issues as broody hens are more aggressive.
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She ruffles her feathers even more if possible and glares at me.
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I know how futile it would be for her to try and hatch a golf ball, so I reach in and grab that girl, lifting her out of the nesting box and setting her down in the grass outside the coop. She stands there in the bright sunshine blinking and looks stunned. She ruffles her feathers even more if possible and glares at me. Then she runs around the outside of the hen yard and coop looking for a way to get back in. I had shut the gate so she searches in vain. I go to the shed where we keep the feed and get a handful of scratch corn (A.K.A chicken ambrosia). I sprinkle it in front of her. She ignores it at first and then one of the golden kernels catches her eye and she pecks it up. The next moment she's doing what I call the "chicken two-step:" one step forward to scratch with head up, one step back to peck with head down. "Now we're getting somewhere," I think. This repetitive dance is typical chicken behavior and just what I want to see. Pretty soon she's relaxed her feathers and they lie closer to her body. She's also not as agitated.
I hang out on the warm grass with the girls watching them be chickens. It's quite relaxing. I highly recommend it as a pastime. The broody hen lays down in a designated "dusting hole", a depression in loose dirt where the hens can take a dust bath. It's the chicken equivalent of a spa treatment. She rolls around flipping dirt all over herself in an effort to get as filthy as possible. The dirt helps prevent parasites such as lice and mites from finding a home in her feathers and legs.
When she finishes her dust bath, I round up the flock and herd them back into the pen. I take heart that the broody girl doesn't go straight into the coop but instead stops to take a drink of water. But I know we've still got more broody days ahead of us. But that's okay. If I go out tomorrow and I'm met by a girl with angry eyes and ruffled feathers, I'll just put her out in the sunshine - maybe with a nice glass of Pinot Noir.
Cheers!
MID BITE
11x14 inches, oil on linen canvas, 2019
Mid Bite - auction ends on Sunday, July 28th at 9:00am PST.
A young filly pauses mid chew to wonder just what the heck am I doing in her pasture.
