Bruce's Journal

Too cute!

Pictures of older hens. I'll start with the remaining 2012's, originally there were 12. 7 years old today.


Anais - Faverolles
She lays for a week or so, then goes broody. Usually does it 3 times a year.


Zorra - Black Australorp. She raised the 2015s. She lays sporadically


Yue - Ancona. She was laying really soft shelled eggs last year, hasn't been laying this year.


Persephone - EE Lots of the other girls, INCLUDING Anais, like to pluck muff and beard feathers. She looks a lot nicer after she moults. At least for a couple of months. She's still laying 2-3 blue-green eggs a week Spring til fall.

They are looking really well....and since there are 4 of them, they will be able to sit and chit-chat while playing "bridge"....while they wait for the younger ones to "chime in" on the egg being laid, so they can all cackle together....

I guess they could! Persephone is the one hen I have that has no need to announce her egg. All business that girl, lay the egg, leave. I've got some that will sing the egg song when another hen is in a nest and hasn't even laid yet.

That's pretty good Bruce, to have hens that old. They are a testament to your good care.

You know me.....it's off with their heads by age 3. LOL LOL But I had a black sex link, named Robin, that was Queen of the Coop, had a bad attitude and put up with being lugged around by my grand daughter. She made the move with us and died a couple years ago at age 7. I even buried her in the garden and put a large flat rock over her grave.

Hmmm, I wouldn't think "bad attitude" and getting carried around would go together. I guess she and your GD had a special bond.

Robin put up with being lugged around, but she wasn't above getting in a peck or two.

Bruce said:

Angel and her 8 babies. Surprising that only one was moving.
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And the entrance to their private suite, complete with food and water
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Chicks!
I have a Columbian Wyandotte as well and I saw that you too have an Ancona.
My Columbian Wyandotte went broody. Not fertile eggs for her to hatch and I've been trying to break her but so far she kept going back in the nesting box. Most of the time she's not even sitting on "borrowed" eggs, just been sitting on her invisible eggs. I go in there and take her out of the nesting box every morning so she can go outside with the rest of the hens. She'd go out, get a drink, eat something then later I'd find her back in the nesting box. What other ways can I break her of being broody?

RollingAcres said:

Chicks!
I have a Columbian Wyandotte as well and I saw that you too have an Ancona.
My Columbian Wyandotte went broody. Not fertile eggs for her to hatch and I've been trying to break her but so far she kept going back in the nesting box. Most of the time she's not even sitting on "borrowed" eggs, just been sitting on her invisible eggs. I go in there and take her out of the nesting box every morning so she can go outside with the rest of the hens. She'd go out, get a drink, eat something then later I'd find her back in the nesting box. What other ways can I break her of being broody?

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Give in and buy her some baby chicks.

Baymule said:

Give in and buy her some baby chicks.

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Nice try but no thanks.