A few days ago, we found our broody hen out in the woodshed sitting on 12 of her eggs. Her name is Chicken. She is normally referred to "Crazy Aunt Chicken", but since she hatched her last batch of 8 in September she has actually calmed down quite a bit. Motherhood humbled her.
Why the most generic name you ask? Well, I happened to get her from a friend. I had initially built a coop for a lady back in the summer of 2013 for this chicken that showed up in her yard one day and never left. She named "him" Chicken. I house sat for her while she was off on a magical trip to South America. The first day there to feed Chicken, and her 40 random cats I was sort of shocked to see that Chicken was actually a hen. I mean, at some point, it's too obvious the differences between a hen and rooster. By the end of that summer, the owner felt sorry for Chicken because she didn't have any other chicken friends. So she called me up, offered me Chicken and the coop, all for free. I resold the coop and we kept Chicken.
Crazy Aunt Chicken? This last spring we brought home 12 little nuggets to add to our flock of 5. One day, Chicken disappeared for 2 months and we assumed that she ran up the mountain to get eaten. Chicken's behavior is completely out of the ordinary. We believe she's part roadrunner because everywhere she goes, it's a full speed and making a huge fuss about everything. She refused to go up into the coop at night so she would take to the trees. I didn't care if she slept in them, she was a wild chicken and was used to sleeping in trees. I figured she had a better chance at survival against an attack compared to the other girls. Now back to Chicken's Crazy Aunt Chicken phase. Towards the end of the two mark month of having lost Chicken, there were reported sightings of her. First, high up the mountain in a bush being an absolute nutball. When I went to investigate, there was no chicken and no nest. A week later Chicken showed up in the backyard, running around and freaking out, squawking, being her lunatic self. Nobody could get near her before she would take off back up the mountain. Then her appearance became more regular with the same erratic behavior and causing a ruckus among the rest of the chickens...Crazy Aunt Chicken. She's the aunt that shows up meth'd out in the middle of the night needing money from your parents.
This video is the most accurate depiction of Chicken, in human form. It's perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oam5NDnDg
We learned our lesson in early Spring not to steal Chicken's eggs, hence her semi-permanent move up the mountain. When I would find her nest, I would be sure to leave two in there at all times because you know...she's fills some effed up hole in our hearts around here. We're her only stable family she's ever known. In August, Chicken was MIA again and we assumed she made the trek back to her vacation home. I found her one evening while I was out hunting for eggs, she was in the back of the shed in a cardboard box setting eggs. I didn't know how many she had, I felt 4 and I also slid my barred rock's egg under there. This was a science experiment to us and we wanted to see if all this baby makin' could really happen. Then they all started hatching...and then 6...7...8...9! WTF?!?!?
Turns out her nest was CONE shaped. Number 9 died the day after it hatched but we kept the rest to let her raise. We moved her to a big wire dog kennel that we use for all of our chicken needs, and let her stay in the shed with food and water for everyone! Once the babes were a week old, I took Chicken and her brood out to the awesome free chicken tractor we have and let them live in until they were all ready to move into the regular coop...During this time, I realized that we were going to need a bigger coop so it was in the works while they hung out in their cool brooding coop. I also put together a little coop off the tractor for them to sleep in. We spent a lot of time lounging about in our lawn chairs in the front yard, along the highway for everyone to see, staring at our new babies. Long story short, we now had 30 chickens.
Fast forward to a few days ago...Chicken was gone again...I figured she was out setting eggs again, but she's a smart chicken and knows what she's doing so I didn't spend too much time looking for her. Two days ago we were egg hunting...this seems to be a trend...it happens when a hen isn't laying in the coop and the only logical thing to do is to hunt for eggs for an entire afternoon when, in fact, said chicken WAS laying in the coop...I guess blue eggs are hard to decipher when there's only 2 easter eggers that lay only blue eggs. Gah! We really don't have anything better to do anyway. We got to see our neighbor TWICE in one day, now THAT'S exciting!! While egg hunting, I found Chicken...in the shed...in planter filled with the coconut fiber filling...it's better than the plain cardboard box filled with straw...except the straw was rolled up in a bag so she hatched babies on top of plastic bag. They need better warnings on those things.
I pulled Chicken and her planter out of the coop to count eggs and slip some of our other girls' eggs under her. I counted 12...YES, TWELVE!! I took out 8 and replaced them with 6 from the coop, then yesterday I took out the remaining 4 and put in 4 more. I mulled it over in my brain about whether or not we wanted to hatch them in the winter and what kind of problems that could lead to. We've had warm, wet weather the last week and the next week and half is still going to be above freezing at night. Once it hits freezing again, I'm going to pull her and the planter out, and bring the whole shebang in the house to live in the dog kennel until she's ready to take them outside. We gave a friend a coop a while back which they've decided they won't be using so we're getting it back in 2 weeks. Chicken's babes will hatch in 3 weeks, once the new little coop gets here she'll keep them warm in the coop and they can play in their own safe run away from the rest of the flock until Chicken is ready to bring them into the flock.
I am expecting lower egg viability and higher chick mortality with this batch, but that's how nature works.
OH! And we have 5 light brahmas coming in March! There's NEVER a dull moment at the homestead in the ditch!
-Healy
Why the most generic name you ask? Well, I happened to get her from a friend. I had initially built a coop for a lady back in the summer of 2013 for this chicken that showed up in her yard one day and never left. She named "him" Chicken. I house sat for her while she was off on a magical trip to South America. The first day there to feed Chicken, and her 40 random cats I was sort of shocked to see that Chicken was actually a hen. I mean, at some point, it's too obvious the differences between a hen and rooster. By the end of that summer, the owner felt sorry for Chicken because she didn't have any other chicken friends. So she called me up, offered me Chicken and the coop, all for free. I resold the coop and we kept Chicken.
Crazy Aunt Chicken? This last spring we brought home 12 little nuggets to add to our flock of 5. One day, Chicken disappeared for 2 months and we assumed that she ran up the mountain to get eaten. Chicken's behavior is completely out of the ordinary. We believe she's part roadrunner because everywhere she goes, it's a full speed and making a huge fuss about everything. She refused to go up into the coop at night so she would take to the trees. I didn't care if she slept in them, she was a wild chicken and was used to sleeping in trees. I figured she had a better chance at survival against an attack compared to the other girls. Now back to Chicken's Crazy Aunt Chicken phase. Towards the end of the two mark month of having lost Chicken, there were reported sightings of her. First, high up the mountain in a bush being an absolute nutball. When I went to investigate, there was no chicken and no nest. A week later Chicken showed up in the backyard, running around and freaking out, squawking, being her lunatic self. Nobody could get near her before she would take off back up the mountain. Then her appearance became more regular with the same erratic behavior and causing a ruckus among the rest of the chickens...Crazy Aunt Chicken. She's the aunt that shows up meth'd out in the middle of the night needing money from your parents.
This video is the most accurate depiction of Chicken, in human form. It's perfect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8oam5NDnDg
We learned our lesson in early Spring not to steal Chicken's eggs, hence her semi-permanent move up the mountain. When I would find her nest, I would be sure to leave two in there at all times because you know...she's fills some effed up hole in our hearts around here. We're her only stable family she's ever known. In August, Chicken was MIA again and we assumed she made the trek back to her vacation home. I found her one evening while I was out hunting for eggs, she was in the back of the shed in a cardboard box setting eggs. I didn't know how many she had, I felt 4 and I also slid my barred rock's egg under there. This was a science experiment to us and we wanted to see if all this baby makin' could really happen. Then they all started hatching...and then 6...7...8...9! WTF?!?!?
Turns out her nest was CONE shaped. Number 9 died the day after it hatched but we kept the rest to let her raise. We moved her to a big wire dog kennel that we use for all of our chicken needs, and let her stay in the shed with food and water for everyone! Once the babes were a week old, I took Chicken and her brood out to the awesome free chicken tractor we have and let them live in until they were all ready to move into the regular coop...During this time, I realized that we were going to need a bigger coop so it was in the works while they hung out in their cool brooding coop. I also put together a little coop off the tractor for them to sleep in. We spent a lot of time lounging about in our lawn chairs in the front yard, along the highway for everyone to see, staring at our new babies. Long story short, we now had 30 chickens.
Fast forward to a few days ago...Chicken was gone again...I figured she was out setting eggs again, but she's a smart chicken and knows what she's doing so I didn't spend too much time looking for her. Two days ago we were egg hunting...this seems to be a trend...it happens when a hen isn't laying in the coop and the only logical thing to do is to hunt for eggs for an entire afternoon when, in fact, said chicken WAS laying in the coop...I guess blue eggs are hard to decipher when there's only 2 easter eggers that lay only blue eggs. Gah! We really don't have anything better to do anyway. We got to see our neighbor TWICE in one day, now THAT'S exciting!! While egg hunting, I found Chicken...in the shed...in planter filled with the coconut fiber filling...it's better than the plain cardboard box filled with straw...except the straw was rolled up in a bag so she hatched babies on top of plastic bag. They need better warnings on those things.
I pulled Chicken and her planter out of the coop to count eggs and slip some of our other girls' eggs under her. I counted 12...YES, TWELVE!! I took out 8 and replaced them with 6 from the coop, then yesterday I took out the remaining 4 and put in 4 more. I mulled it over in my brain about whether or not we wanted to hatch them in the winter and what kind of problems that could lead to. We've had warm, wet weather the last week and the next week and half is still going to be above freezing at night. Once it hits freezing again, I'm going to pull her and the planter out, and bring the whole shebang in the house to live in the dog kennel until she's ready to take them outside. We gave a friend a coop a while back which they've decided they won't be using so we're getting it back in 2 weeks. Chicken's babes will hatch in 3 weeks, once the new little coop gets here she'll keep them warm in the coop and they can play in their own safe run away from the rest of the flock until Chicken is ready to bring them into the flock.
I am expecting lower egg viability and higher chick mortality with this batch, but that's how nature works.
OH! And we have 5 light brahmas coming in March! There's NEVER a dull moment at the homestead in the ditch!
-Healy