The first time we had broody hens it was pretty special.  Much like a first pregnancy we did everything we could do so that our little broody hen mama would have success with her first hatch.  It took us three batches of eggs and she ended up sitting for a few months (getting on and off to eat and keep her energy up, like a good broody hen mama would)

FINALLY, she hatched an egg. There was relief and cheering (from us, not the hens) and we embraced our new little chicky with love.

That was 5 weeks ago, and apparently there IS something in the water at our new place.

That’s right! We had 4 hens “go down” broody last week.  Three little bantams, and one standard hen.

Then, another two added to the gaggle of giggling broodies this week.

With a flock of 24 hens, and with 6 down broody and 1 currently playing mommy with her chicks, we are starting to see a serious egg shortage in our future.

Not to mention the fact that the nesting boxes are full.

And our broody box is full.

Hubby and I feel like we are drowning in potential chickens.

So, I am making a plan.  Our 6 broody hens need to be moved out of the main coop. The nesting boxes are off the ground, and it would be easy for a baby chick to fall. As well, incorporating new babies into the main coop right away is just asking for chicken cannibalism, and I don’t want to see that.

With our weekend already packed to the gills, I am thinking I need to make a broody coop my mother’s day gift request! (This means hubby will be FORCED into building it)

We have a bit of spare wire, and a whole lot of spare wood, so I will grab my scrap paper and try to make this a reality.  I mean, it is only fair that we give a little love to our moms to be on mothers day, right?  And I think giving them their own spa like zone to hatch their babies will be just the ticket.

One last though tho . . .

Does anyone want a chicken?  In a couple weeks we will be over run!