I should probably have called this post Diary of a Broody Hen, as really this is my hen’s story and not mine. But since she can’t talk, I thought I would take a break from my usual veg growing musings and bring you her story.
This is Speckledy, my oldest hen. She is eight and a half years old. She is also my only remaining hen. She has had many many friends over the past eight years, some that she hatched with, others that came to be her housemates after we rescued them as ex-battery hens. Sadly, the latter never survive very long, and the last one died three weeks ago today.
Speckledy was all alone in the chicken run, but she was also broody and had been sitting in the nesting box for perhaps two days.
I didn’t want her to be all alone in the world, and I wanted to get some more rescue hens to be her friends. However, given that she was broody and would be for another three weeks, I thought that this could be an issue in terms of her and her new flock-mates establishing the pecking order. Instead, I decided to get her some hatching eggs.
I ordered the eggs online. What?? Yes, it was easier to order fertilised eggs for hatching from an online supplier based in Cornwall than it was to find a local supply in person. The eggs arrived on Speckledy’s fourth broody day and I went to pop them in the nesting box with her. It was a bit nerve-wracking as she legged it out of the hen house and then just pecked around outside for about four hours. I thought I may have disturbed her broodiness, but was relieved to see her return to her mother hen duties later in the afternoon. She has now been sitting on those eggs for twenty days.
Apparently, the hatching is most likely to begin on day twenty-one. I am praying to greater forces that Speckledy will stick with her precious brood a little longer, and that at least one or two of her seven eggs will hatch into a gorgeous little fluff-ball for her to nurture and guide over the next few weeks.
This will be Speckledy’s first brood – she has gone broody twice a year for the past eight years, and I am so excited to finally give her a shot at motherhood – and it will be my first brood of chicks too, and as someone who doesn’t have children myself, I am very much living vicariously through her. My fingers are crossed and I will keep you all posted!