This is my broody hen!
Every year this Chicken Girl, whose name just happens to be...Broody Girl, goes broody.
So, what is a broody hen?
What are the symptoms?
A broody hen is one who wants to sit on her eggs until they hatch. And she does just that. Stays upon her eggs...instead of laying an egg and hopping off to go eat, scratch, peck, etc.
I've got one broody hen. She goes broody once every year. None of my other hens have ever gone broody. Here are my observations...
She makes a wet "squelchy", wet boot-sole type of noise...not her usual vocalizations and clucky-chicken noises.
She's really grouchy, cranky, ornery. Mean. A real "She-Demon". Don't try to reach under or around her. She will peck and peck hard. Brutal Girl. Naughty Girl!
She sits - clamps down - on her nest rising only about five minutes each day to eat, drink, and poop. Then, right back on her nest. A feathered suction cup!
She stops laying eggs. Simply sitting upon those she has laid...and stealing any eggs laid by other chickens in the adjoining nest box. An egg thief! Eggs are her world!
Her breast flattens and spreads like a waterbed mattress.
She seems to be in a trance or fugue. Under a spell!
She has no interest in snacks, goodies, or treats. Weird!
Her golden eyes have dilated to an almost "demonic" black.
She...IS a broody hen! Watch out!!!
These are what she's sitting on! Protecting. Nurturing. Incubating!
Comments