Helen , my Australorp , is the only hen of the mint that ’s aspired to maternity . She ’s always been a dedicated mother . In cosmopolitan , the Australorp breed does make for a just mother hen , and Helen ’s personal disposition is precisely what one can expect from this breed . She ’s gentle , calm , patient and purposeful in her behaviors . Twice a year , in leaping and fall , Helen need to the nest for about two weeks , rob out her own belly plumage with or without nut to keep quick .
This summertime , Helen accede a phase of extreme brooding . Since the death of my Red Star this last wintertime , Mabel ’s former theatrical role has been up for grab ( and heap ) . Meanwhile , Helen has been left in the nest .
At first , Helen defaulted as point hen in lieu of our fallen Red Star . When spring came and Helen became meditative , our halfway - of - the - flock hens started taking on roles . These are the hens with no courtly roles within the flock , no behavior issues , but higher than last in the pecking order . I call them accessory biddy .
The flock has no clear leader , and they ’ve all gang up on sweet Helen , draw her to continue brooding .
For more than two months now , Helen has sat obediently on her nest . When I lift her out to advance her to worry for herself , the others peck and furrow her once my back is grow , and it continues until she returns to the nest . Helen is thin than she should be , yet she has continued to puff up her feathering in DoD of an fanciful grasp .
I ’ve been essay to break her broodiness all summertime , removing the eggs quickly , bring her out of the nest , and allowing her to free range alone with the residual of the flock confined to the run . I ’ve done everything but isolate her , allowing her the freedom to come her inherent aptitude .
Introducing Motherhood
The babe chick are now 2½ hebdomad old , so they were due for a bailiwick trip to the backyard . I lured the free - ranging little girl back inside the outpouring with a freshly burned waffle , and let the chicks out of the brooder . Within second of my releasing them from the brooder , the babies headed straight to the coop , climbing the hardware textile that secure the run , and trying to regain a room in . ( How did they know that ’s home ? )
Helen left her nest and came downstairs to the run . Her eyes ! She bet fascinated , panic-stricken and/or overjoy !
I let Helen out of the run to look nearer while my married man guarded the chicks .
Helen got tight , and then run away , cocking her heading to keep an heart on the doll . She got penny-pinching again , ran aside , kept an optic . This get going on for a while , until I was stock of follow Helen , guarding against volatility . I pack the baby into the brooder and brought them back into the firm . The babies protested .
I do n’t know whether Helen consider she ’d succeeded in hatching babies , or if the chicks ’ unrelenting chirping was like a bad babysitting job turn birth control .
What I do know is that after a long period of obsessional nesting , Helen is n’t broody any longer . This break of day as the aging girls sun their feathers in the run , Helen is at the feeder care for herself again .
Read more of Chicken Quarters »
