Spring has definitely sprung today and we finally let the chickens free range again after 2 weeks being cooped up in the hen house & closed in yard due to snow and hungry predators (and having a broody hen with them in the coop).
I checked on them every hour or so to make sure that no-one was being scooped up by a hefty raven or hungry racoon.
And with my frequent checks I got to see the happy hens doing all sorts of awesome (and photo worthy things)
Our broody Hen “mo” has had a setback- 3 days before her hatch date we moved her to a private room (aka secure dog crate). The other hens kept trying to get in her box to lay and I had nightmares of her chicks hatching and falling to their death out of the high nesting box.
She moved well, and continued to sit on her eggs. After a few days we opened her crate to let her walk around in her own “secure” yard and stretch her legs, if needed. Later that afternoon as I walked into the big chicken coop, who did I see, but little Mo. She had left her nest and squished through a gap in the wire to hang with her big chicken friends.
And let her eggs cool off too long to be viable any longer 🙁
Good news is, she is back on a new clutch after a day dust bathing and filling her belly. Normally it isn’t healthy for hens to sit longer than 4 weeks, but this little dear is doing a good job eating and drinking throughout her brood, so we aren’t too worried! Hopefully in 19 days we will have a lovely clutch of chicks (which totally sucks since we move in 21 days!)
And thanks to Mo oozing broodiness, we now have little Tundra joining her. Tundra has been hoarding eggs and sitting on them all night, but today is the first time she declined playing in the yard and stayed on one egg she managed to find! Argh … I REALLy don’t need TWO broody hens!
Check out my quick little video of the hens filling our nesting boxes! Eggs, eggs, EGGS for everyone today!
And, the learning of the day, is no matter HOW many nesting boxes you have, they will always have a favourite! But I guess having sisters share in their egg laying experience is okay! I imagine it must be a bonding experience!
Watching the chickens standing in the sunshine and enjoying the dry ground is a sure sign that they need spring to come as much as we do!