to be broody, it seems! My light sussex hen, Bertha is all grim
determination to have chicks even with being flogged off the nest three
times by her
coopmates who wanted to lay their eggs, today. She would just wait by
the nest
hopping from one foot to the other, making her little bok-buk-bok-buk
noises until the hen laying was finished, then back in she would go.
I've been chatting online with some of my chicken breeding
friends and they're encouraging me to try setting her with some eggs as
Sussex are usually reliable brooders which, once they're settled don't
break until the eggs hatch. One suggestion is to let her sit for a week
or two on fake eggs and then go in at night and swap the 'eggs' out for
day old chicks, which she should happily mother without too much fuss as
she will think they are her own. This is tempting as I really would
love to get some Australorp chicks to raise for next season and
gradaully switch to breeding just Australorps and maybe having
Wyandottes for color and variety in the coops.
so tempted am I, indeed that I have emailed a breeder of Australorps already about getting some fertile eggs.
HooRay!! Love astralorps they're my faves too but so hard to find bantam ones.
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