Click on pictures to see them enlarged in a photo stream. Comments: word verification on to allow anyone to comment but try and deter excessive amounts of spam! I LOVE getting comments!

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Hens.....



The hens have been loving the good weather too.  As you can see one of the cockerels is exerting his dominance. Fortunately he is quite friendly and was just looking for worms.... I think!

Several hens have gone broody already. I've managed to limit the clutch of eggs they are sitting on by removing new ones regularly. Though one hen was in the barn where the sheep were kept for lambing and I couldn't get to her. So who knows how many she will hatch!  One hen had successfully hatched one chick at the end of last week but I only spotted it as I was heading off for the weekend and didn't have time to box hen and chick into the barn. When I returned it had disappeared. Sadly probably predated by one of the crows or gulls around. Such is life.....

Current broody hen



Came across this clutch of eggs in an old manger - have removed most and just left a couple for the hen to sit upon. If I remove them all the hens just goes somewhere else and produces another clutch. So better that I control numbers this way really.  And yes, they have nesting boxes in their hen house, but they like peace and quiet so tend to sneak off to the barns to lay eggs.  At least these are accessible for collecting ....at the moment!


And if you are wondering why one has a red cross on. Well when I come across a nest, I mark one with a red cross and leave that in the nest for a few days. The hens then lay fresh eggs around it. If they come back and find an empty nest they sneak off and lay somewhere else. Then after a few days I remove the egg with the red cross and throw it onto the shore (probably not a good one to eat!), and mark another one. That way I get regular fresh eggs and not too many chicks if a hen does go broody!




9 comments:

  1. Been ill for a while, but have been keeping
    an eye on your posts.Enjoyed them all, thanks.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Pat - I had wondered if you were OK as you are one of my few regular "commentors". Hope you are recovering now? Wishing you well!

      Delete
  2. Mr Rooster crows "I'm the king of the castle!" My Mum used to put a crockery egg in as a nest egg, though admittedly that didn't stop a broody hen laying in a quiet place where she could hatch out chickens.
    PS Just noticed your William Blake quote ... he is one of my favourites:)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've tried wooden eggs and rubber eggs but with little success. Yes I love that William Blake quote.

      Delete
  3. How wonderful! The cockerel is quite magnificent. Do your hens just roam free?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Christine - yes they roam complete free....I have NO control over them whatsoever ;-) They have a hen house where I put food and water and they always roost there. If I feel so inclined I can shut them in (and if I have visitors I do as the cockerels start crowing about 3am!!). But the neighbours are down the road (and have their own roosters crowing) and the noise doesn't bother me so I let them get up and wander outdoors whenever they like. They put themselves to bed. There are no predators on the island (no foxes) so they are fairly safe.

      Delete
  4. I remember my grandfather doing the same with a hina egg when I was a small girl. Hens are so useful and great entertainment too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. See above - wooden and rubber eggs didn't work! So I use the "real thing". Yes I love my hens - they are wonderfully relaxing to watch, and of course deliver gorgeous eggs too!

      Delete
  5. Have you named your hens ?

    I would love to have two or three hens (no roosters), but our city does not allow them. A growing number of cities do.

    ReplyDelete