Feeling Broody

THE CHICKEN BLOG: A BIRD'S EYE VIEW FROM THE GROUND
The one thing you can say with certainty about broodiness, is that it passes! Just as well really, otherwise we’d live in a totally overpopulated world full of millions of babies and chicks. Our two broody hens have been on an off for about 3 months now. At first it’s difficult to know why the hens start losing tail and neck feathers and stop laying: Are they ill? Have they got parasites? It soon becomes clear that ” something is up”. As we don’t keep roosters, there is no chance of fertilisation i.e. baby chicks. (N.B. the Spanish word for male chicken and the one eaten is “pollo” - it is most important not to use “pollA” as its´ meaning is very different!)

Both Mrs Black and That One retired behind their curtain where most eggs are laid, and waited. And waited. In fact they would have preferred not to emerge at all, especially when the others tried to find a place to lay. There was then a bit of a contest to see who could take charge of the clutch, with both getting very upset when the eggs were removed. (Apparently this discourages broodiness, though I fail to be convinced, as the two continued in their resolve.)

Twice a day I would dislodge them and push them outdoors as its important, at this time, to get them to feed and see to their other needs. At this point both would cackle loudly, fluff up their remaining tail feathers into a fan shape, fall over (pins and needles in their legs from too much inactivity?) and do a huge and very smelly poo! After a brief snack they would dig holes in the dust and roll around - a useful activity as it helps dislodge mites and cools the overheated birds down. But all too soon they spot another egg and go into purdah again.

Interestingly, broodiness is a trait which has been largely bred out of domestic fowl these days, though there are certain breeds which are used to incubate eggs, such as the Silkies. Others tend to lose interest after a few days and are generally considered unreliable. Most breeders seem to use incubators. I intended to beg a fertilized egg or two from the man down the road as an experiment, but did not catch him in… There are various suggestions as to how to deal with excessive broodiness. It’s possible to keep the broodies happy by marking an egg and leaving it in the nest, or use a china one. Some birds are separated from the flock and put in a hanging cage, but this seems harsh to me. After all they are only following instincts…

In our case, as the whole hen house under the pool needed a good clean out, the birds were shut out in the run all day (which always causes alarm and despondency.) I changed the curtain for a new one, and suddenly both broodies had lost interest and were back with the rest.

Still the bout of broodiness has taken its toll and Mrs Black and That One are still not yet laying. Either they are going into moult or they are building their feathers up again - apparently they can´t manage both at once. Mrs Black features in the photo before she lost her feathers - she has refused any press coverage in her current state!