Bluey is broody…

Last week I noticed that Goldie hadn’t come to greet me when I went into the chicken run. This is very odd indeed, she always comes running up to me and follows me down. When I went to check for eggs, I found her in the laying box so I retreated silently, leaving her to do her thing undisturbed. Then a few days ago, Goldie was around me as usual but Bluey didn’t appear. She usually takes a little longer and keeps her distance, but always joins Goldie to dissect and demolish any offerings I bring them. I checked the laying box, saw Bluey there and left her in peace, as I had with Goldie.

The day before yesterday when I went down, again Bluey was conspicuous by her absence. I was in the run for a while, attending to the new pullets and making changes to the enclosure, so I found it odd that she was missing for so long. A little concerned, I went into the old coop and sure enough, there she was in the laying box. At this point it dawned on me ~ she’s broody!

The same happened last year, only we didn’t do anything about it and after some days it went away. This year we were in time to do something about it; after a brief discussion we decided to give her ~ and us! ~ the experience of raising chicks. We don’t have a rooster, so I contacted the chap who’d given us Bluey and he said he’d gift us some eggs for her to incubate.

The next day his brother Al brought 11 eggs, carefully transported in a box inside a plastic bag that he made sure not to knot, according to his brother’s instructions. Apparently a sealed plastic bag can ruin the chances of the eggs hatching. Originally there had been twelve, but Al noticed one of the eggs looked odd, so he brought eleven and placed them in a deeper nesting box for Bluey to sit on.

Bluey in her nesting box

It takes 21 days for the chicks to hatch. Will Bluey persevere?!

We closed the door to the solar-panel run, effectively isolating Bluey to keep her free from disturbances and used this opportunity to introduce Goldie to the two pullets and new coop.