ORChick's Not-a-Journal

[ORChick]

I, have a Barnevelder as well. She is a about 19 mths old and has gone broody twice. When she first started laying she gave us 2 eggs then went broody started going broody again 3 mths later after only laying a couple more eggs. She lays beautiful eggs which is not often, maybe 3 times a week now. I notice she is plucking her breast feathers out again so I am thinking she is on her way to being broody again. I wonder if this is what you can expect from this breed?

Good thing that the eggs they do lay are so pretty, isn't it? Since the hawk got the rooster there is no use letting her sit on her own eggs when/if she goes broody, but I'll be getting fertile eggs from a friend when the time comes.

 

[lazyday]

Yes,it is a good thing they lay beautiful eggs and she is really a sweet girl. I haven't found anymore Barnevelder's around here and I know that the person who hatched her drove down into Arkansas. I hope you can get another Rooster for your hen. Is she a standard size or a bantam?

 

[ORChick]

She is standard sized.

Actually, technically I have a rooster. He's the half breed son (mom is an EE) of my Barnevelder rooster that the hawk got (hatched out when the Barnevelder hen went broody last year). But I have him in another coop, and because he almost killed one of the other hens (pecked a great hole in her head) I don't let him out with the main flock. He has 2 *wives*, and, for the moment, that is all he gets . I am hoping that when he gets a bit older, and his hormones have calmed down a bit, that I can let them all out together again. But he is still a youngster - only 10 months - and is *feeling his oats*. They go out to free range on alternate days, and he spends his day of freedom hanging around the main coop. But the girl he seems to dislike is also one of my best layers (a speckled Sussex), and her health is more important to me than his frustration . (He takes after his daddy; the only reason I even have a second coop is because Piet tried to kill one of the hens, and they had to be separated. The young woman taking care of the animals while we were away for the week actually took her into the vet, for whom she worked, and she [the hen] got 8 stitches in her head, and a week of antibiotics! He really didn't like that particular girl.)
Just another soap opera at ORChick's house

 

[Denim Deb]

A soap starting chickens! Guess you could call it Life in the Hen House.

 

[ORChick]

Well, it looks like my Barnevelder hen is wanting to sit on some eggs again. Unfortunately, as mentioned in another post above, I only have 2 girls in with the rooster, so will be collecting their eggs for a few days. I talked to my friend about getting some of hers, and she said they are only laying about 2 eggs a day at the moment, and she needs those for breakfast! So I told her I had plenty of eating eggs; I gave her a dozen, and she will collect her girls' eggs over the next few days as well. I just set up the *isolation box*, and moved Beatrix over into it - at which she perked up, and started to walk around. I'll leave her there for the afternoon, and see if she goes back into her trance or not.
I really don't need to enlarge my flock at all at the moment, but it was so fun watching her do her Mama Hen thing that I want to do it again. I think that either I, or another friend, can make room for any girls; and it really is getting on towards time for me to learn about *chickens as food*

 

[ORChick]

Beatrix quickly settled back into her trance, and has been keeping 2 wooden eggs warm over the last several days. I picked up 7 eggs from my friend today, and added them to the 7 I have collected from my 2 girls in the Rooster Coop, and she is in the process of rolling them underneath her as I write. My personal journal tells me that 1 year ago today her last clutch hatched, so it seems she has developed a fairly regular schedule
It has been cool and damp here the last few days. We had a few glorious spring days, but now I have pulled out the winter pullovers again. I should be out in the garden, but have no enthusiasm for that, and would much prefer to light a fire, and settle down with a good book. I will probably compromise, and tidy the sewing room - indoors, out of the damp, but still something useful that needs doing.

 

[Denim Deb]

You can keep that cooler weather! Though I wouldn't mind if it was a bit cooler here right now. But, I'm sitting here in my bare feet, shorts and a t-shirt. The idea of heavy clothing just doesn't sound right for now.

 

[ORChick]

We actually turned the heating back on yesterday! But today it is somewhat warmer, and the sun has been shining for part of the day.

Beatrix kicked out about half of the eggs, and they were quite cold this morning when I found them. They will be cooked up to feed back to the chickens, but I am quite upset that my optimistic outlook for this hatch has suffered such a blow. She shows no inclination to get up yet, and still growls at me if I get too close, but she just doesn't seem as dedicated to the project as she was even just a few short days ago, and certainly not as she was a year ago. I have this feeling that I'll be lucky if any of the remaining 8 hatch. Still, don't count your chickens before ... etc., and I suppose that means don't underestimate just as much as don't overestimate. We shall see.

 

[Denim Deb]

Since I lost Henrietta, I've only had 1 go broody, and that was in the middle of a heat wave! I don't have good luck w/the incubator, either. Hopefully one of these days, I'll get some broodies so I can get some chicks I don't have to buy.

 

[ORChick]

Denim Deb - I had a Henrietta as well (doesn't every chicken owner at some point? ) She was a New Hampshire Red, and she and her sister, Penelope, have been the best layers in the 4+ years I've had chickens. A neighbour's dog got Henny; Penny too, but it was a different dog

This afternoon I went out to give the girls their treats, and make sure all was well in the coop. I found my Buff Orpington dead in the coop . No obvious sign of injury, and the run had been shut all day, so nothing could have got in. It wasn't even hot today. But something happened; maybe she had a wonky heart.

So now the pressure is on for Beatrix to do a good job with her broody clutch. She is sitting tight on the remaining 8 eggs, so we will see how it goes. I think I'll try candling them after about 10 days - next Sunday - to see if I can tell what's going on.