Chick Watch Week #1:
jordy the broody hen
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Chick Watch Week 1: Jordy the Broody Hen
Meet Jordy. Jordy is a Buff Orpington hen, and is just over 2 years old. Ever since she reached maturity, she goes broody in late Spring, and is always extremely determined to sit on eggs! She often needs to be searched for, because she has hunkered down in any number of odd locations, wanting to make a nest.
This year, rather than fight her urges, we let her sit on some eggs to see what would happen. We’ll keep up with her periodically in our blog series: Chick Watch.
Feeling Broody
Jordy has been “lightly broody” these past few weeks. She would sit on top of the flock’s daily eggs, but would easily be shooed off. She’d give her feathers a shake and a fluff, and then go on her merry way. She wasn’t fully committed. About one week ago, she … disappeared. We didn’t see her in the yard, and noticed she didn’t come home to roost one evening. So, the next morning, we sent out a search party. She was quickly discovered, holed up under a pile of trimmed tree branches. We knew this was it; she was ready to commit to sitting on eggs.
Jordy the broody Buff Orpington hen
Jordy made her nest under these branches
There is no rooster on the property, so any eggs laid by the hens at home do not have the potential to hatch. They are not fertile, and can never develop in to chickens. We purchased two fertile wheaten ameraucana eggs from our local feed store. They’ll fit right in to our flock once they hatch, as we have a majority of blue eggs layers.
The Tree Branch Nest
Jordy had chosen to nest under a pile of fallen tree branches in the far corner of our one acre property. The question now becomes do we move her to the coop, or another location closer to the house? Or do we leave her where she is?
A lot of thought went into this decision. It is often considered ideal to have a hen nest in a convenient, extremely secure location, where she can be easily monitored and kept safe.
However, there are several reasons why we decided to leave Jordy in her tree branch nest:
- No real threat from predators. While yes, we realize that it is possible for a coyote or other predator to enter the yard, it hasn’t ever happened before, and doesn’t seem a likely scenario. It’s a risk we felt comfortable taking.
- Privacy. Jordy is comfortable in the back corner of the yard, away from the rest of the flock and other animals. She will not constantly be bothered and feel the need to defend herself and her eggs. This is especially important because Jordy is lower in the pecking order, therefore the more dominant hens would constantly invade her personal space in the coop.
- Shade. She is in an area that is shaded and cool at all times. While out of direct sunlight, the coop gets so hot that we set up misters and fans. In her tree branch nest she’s in the shade and will get a nice breeze.
- Security. We took more trimmed branches and piled them up around her. She’s got a bit of a tree branch cage going on, and is well hidden. While we realize this isn’t incredibly secure, it’ll definitely do the trick for 21 days.
Marking The Fertile Eggs
First things first, and a lesson learned from last year, we marked the fertile eggs with a pencil. This will help us distinguish the fertile eggs from the non-fertile eggs laid by our hens.
Sometimes, when a broody hen leaves the nest momentarily to eat, drink, or relieve herself, another hen will decide to lay an egg in the same nest. Non-fertile eggs in the nest need to be removed regularly, as they will start to spoil if sat on for too long.
Given her isolated location, we set up a food and water station close by so she doesn’t have to travel far to replenish herself. A hen sitting on eggs puts her needs second to her duty of incubating, and that will take a toll on her body. She will only leave the nest about once per day to eat, drink, and relieve herself.
Fertile Wheaten Ameraucana eggs marked in pencil
Incubation – Day 7
It is now day 7 out of 21 days of incubation. What do our developing chicks look like? At this stage of development, our chick embryos have a head, neck, a body, and limbs. The beak is beginning to form. The brain continues to develop, but it now takes up less space in the body, as the body begins to grow larger. In just two days, feathers will start to form.
Keep an eye on our Facebook page or click on the below links as we post updates on Jordy and her eggs, which in about 2 weeks will be little baby chicks! We can’t wait!