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A New Mother

Maybe . .

A hen is considered “broody” when she wants to become a mother.  Supposedly, many of the production breeds have been bred so that they don’t get broody.  I’ve never had a broody chicken other than the Silkies and Louise has already hatched her second batch of babies.  I believe she stays broody!

So, who do you think is broody?  Mean Chicken!  Yes, she wants to be a mother so badly and I figure after what she’s been through, she deserves a chance to raise babies if that’s what she wants to do.  Mean Chicken was the one that the dog attacked.

There is no rooster with the red hens so none of those eggs are fertile.  Poor Mean Chicken!  She gathered all the eggs from the other 11 red chickens into her little nest and was determined she was going to hatch them.  I always hate to be the bearer of bad news but . . she could sit on those eggs for the next 10 years and they are not going to hatch!  Being the nice person that I am, I went and got Silky eggs, and I got Dominique eggs, all of which are fertile, and I put them in the nest for Mean Chicken.

I know what it’s like to be given the gift of a child I could not have on my own!  And, yes, I am still thankful every single day for the decision that young lady made that gave me the greatest gift of my entire earthly life.

All was well, tell Grumpy Chicken decided she wanted babies too!  I can’t show favoritism so I went and gathered Silky eggs and Dominique eggs and put them in the nest for Grumpy Chicken.  At this point, Grumpy Chicken was in nest #1 and Mean Chicken was in nest #2.  There are four nests in the coop.

Grumpy Chicken sat on her nest for . . about 4 hours and decided . . hey, I don’t think I really want to be a mother.  There are grasshoppers out there I could be eating instead of sitting on these dumb eggs!  She abandoned her nest and Mean Chicken . . always thinking the grass is greener on the other side, moved over to Nest #1.  Good grief, chickens!

I moved all of Mean Chicken’s eggs from nest #2 to nest #1 and combined the two nests so Mean Chicken can have a large family!

Mean Chicken on the Nest

She sits way back in the corner of the nest.  Know why?  Because she wants to make trouble for me!  Really.  By sitting way back there, other chickens will get in this nest and lay their eggs.  The chickens, for some reason, love nest #1 best.  Another chicken comes in and lays her egg, Mean Chicken rakes it under herself and adds another potential baby . . except none of these eggs are going to hatch!  These chickens just don’t have a clue about the birds and the bees!

About three times a day, I go out there, rake all the eggs out from under Mean Chicken.

Looking for Non-Fertile Eggs

The bantam eggs I know are fertile and may hatch.  The fertile Dominique eggs, because they look like the non-fertile eggs from the red chickens, have dates on them.  I take all the eggs that aren’t dated and aren’t bantam eggs and I keep those for us because (1)  they’re from the red hens and are not fertile and (2) they’ve been laid within the past few hours so they’re fresh, and I slide all the rest of the eggs back under Mean Chicken.

It will be cute if they hatch.  She’ll have Silky babies and Dominique babies.  She will never know they’re not her own babies.  Since there are no mirrors in the coop, she won’t even realize that they all look different from her.

The Mean Chicken story does not compare to the story of adopting Chad, but . . how could I not do everything in my power to help Mean Chicken have some babies if that’s what she wanted so badly?

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. I really don’t know who is more hilarious….you or the chickens. but you are being a good mama. hope mean chicken gets a baby or two for all her work. more story material for you. hahahahaha you need to write a book.

  2. Judy….adoption is the greatest gift for all concerned…love all the way around. You express it so well. Looking forward to Mean Chicken motherhood stories!

  3. Oh…today’s post is the first that brought tears to my eyes….well—real tears anyway-not ones from laughing so much. My husband and I were married 6 weeks shy of ten years when our first daughter was born. I had just about given up hope of having children until she came along…and even though I subsequently gave birth to two more daughters I know what heartbreak there is in wanting a child and not having one. I was “broody” for many years myself so Mean Chicken has my sympathy. Your kind actions really show what a dear heart you are. One of my daughters is gong through the same thing. Wish I could “fix” her situation as easily as you’ve done here. Again….thanks for sharing your life moments with us. Blessings…

  4. Judy, you are a hoot in the coop! Nice thing you’re doing:-)
    You’re a nice momma.

  6. Awww… Mean chicken will be so happy!

    Just curious though- won’t you have to take away her babies eventually to put them with the rest of their kind? You keep the types of chickens separate, right? I’ve never had chickens, so I don’t know how all that works itself out.

  7. Oh the things we do for our chickens 🙂 I am the same way! Silkies are probably the worst about being broody…so you will have lots of babies if your Silkies have their way.

  9. I’ve been laughing and crying throughout, you are amazing and yes, you should write a book or just condense all these gems.

  11. I can really relate to those broodies….some days feel just like they do “let me sit here and do my thing!” (fertile eggs aside) I have 2 broodies now – my Silkie and my Buff Orpington. I know as soon as I get some fertile eggs (have to purchase them because I have no “Romeo’s”) to put under them, they’ll snap out of it.
    I did just hatch out some bantam Polish..OMG they are adorable.

  14. Too funny! I have a red hen that is currently nursemaiding a batch of incubator chicks. It’s fun to watch 11 white dots following her around the run learning how to be chickens.

  15. Awww well done, you make a wonderful midwife 🙂 I agree with Shirley #1, there surely is a book or two here with all your wonderful posts … if only there were a few more hours in your days?!

  16. Bless your heart. I can relate to you and mean chicken. We have a beautiful adopted daughter after years of waiting. And she looks different than her parents too. But we all don’t mind a bit….in fact we embrace it. I hope mean chicken is able to be a mother too with her adopted eggs.

  17. Judy, I think I’m in love with your chickens. Are youing to let her hatch then or take them in and make a big omeletl? Just be sure to take out the red spots if you use them. Those are the little embroys. The eggs are still good though. Of course, if she hatches them you will have more chickens to take care of, and Addy will love comiing to see her new listtle playmates.

  18. that is the sweetest thing i have ever heard!!! i have 2 adopted children so i also understand. i hope mean chicken turns into sweet chicken as soon as she is a mommy!!!

  20. I went through all this a while ago with one of my barred rocks. Every day I had to check under her, cause she kept stealing the fresh eggs. Now I have a duck setting. No way I am checking under her. She is meaner than the hen ever thought about being. My hubbie laughs because that duck mama chased me clean out of the shed. She had her head down low, hissing and came right at me. I will admit, I ran. LOL Hopefully I will have some baby ducks in about 2 more weeks.

  21. Hooray for you ! Mean chicken may become nice after she has babies,as you know they are what gives us so much pleasure.You should write a childrens book about mean chicken I am sure it would be a hit.LOL Dana

  22. 3 cheers for Mean chicken and for you for working so hard to make her dreams come true.

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