We've had a rather delicate situation developing in the hen house for a couple of days now. One of our little Banty (or Bantam) hens has decided she wants to become a mother. Problem is, she wants to sit on everybody else's eggs. (Notice the size difference? No way those behemoth eggs came from that tiny rump.) And now, when the larger hens come to the nest to lay their eggs, she starts this ferocious shrieking sound and scares them off.
I've raised chickens since I was a little girl, so I have seen just about every trick a broody hen will try. I also worked as a dental assistant in a very busy orthodontic office for 12 years, so I learned how to quickly diffuse stressful situations. Still, I don't think either one of those qualify me as a hostage negotiator. . . I tried gathering the eggs before she had a chance to kidnap them, but it was too late. Now she is sitting smugly on two huge eggs. It's going to be interesting to see how this plays out, so stay tuned.
As of today:
As of today:
Banty Hen -1
Me-0
Hi Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to leave a comment. The story of your hens is funny and I love the story of how God provided a wonderful husband for you. God is good and he knows just what is best for us doesn't he? Rhondi
ReplyDeleteoh my goodness gracious!!! That is HILARIOUS!!!!! I can't wait to see how all this unfolds!!
ReplyDeleteThat is a cute story about some pretty comical little birds. When I was a kid, my Dad had Banty chickens in our garage. They nested in the loft, hopped right up the ladder. They were funny to watch. Will the eggs rot or is there a chance that she will raise a brood? I don't remember that much about the process. We buy our eggs from a lady down the road. There is no way we would eat store bought eggs.Anyone that says there is no difference, never had fresh farm eggs !
ReplyDeleteSo she doesn't want to do the work, but wants all the glory? Tricky girl. This story just has me smiling from ear to ear. hehe! I am so looking forward to reading more about this story.
ReplyDeleteJust too cute!!!!! Kind of like the ugly duckling story, huh???? Just love your blog!!!!! The more I read all these chicken stories, the more I think I'm going to have to get some of my own. My sister has some, but. . . .they are just not mine, you know? Your pictures are so wonderful!!!!! Please keep us updated on this little banti and her bandit ways! Cora
ReplyDeleteDon't be surprised by the size of the eggs a small hen can put out. We had this very same thing happen to us last spring. One of our hens decided she was broody & laid on all the the eggs. She had a stash of I believe; a dozen under her at one time. However, the hen left the coop for very short periods each day. While she was out the rooster (well we think it was the rooster) would eat an egg or two. Or it could have been that when she got up to do her thing the eggs may have rolled into each other. What worked for us is, we relocated the others to a secluded area in the barn while Ms. Broody laid on her stash in the coop. In the end, I think it was 2 hatches unfortunately they looked premature and none survived. As I was saying about size; the smallest hens we had were red sexlinks ~ (heavy layers) for such small girls, they laid extra large sized eggs. Poor things, I could hear them clacking from inside the house as they were trying to pass these things... Farm chick, we also share in the love of Old Farmalls. I used to ride on the fender of my grandpas Old farmall as a youngster. Lots of good ole memories there! See you back at Nickers & Neighs. ta ta
ReplyDeleteThanks for making me laugh! Those little Banty hens just have a mind of their own!(Or sometimes not much of one at all, LOL!) I'll be interested to see what you can do about this. THanks for coming by my blog:)!!
ReplyDeleteI know nothing at all about chickens, so I'm anxious to find out how this all turns out!!!
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