Update on Pretty Face

               Pretty Face is still faithfully setting on her three eggs.  (Now I wish we'd put more than three under her... Oh, well... maybe next time.)  She is quite the broody hen, seldom leaving her eggs at all.  Occasionally we will see her out in her "courtyard", taking a drink of water or a bit of food.  Then, it's right back to her eggs.  She reminds me of the old Dr Suess book, "Horton Hatches a Who".

               When I lift the top of her little broody house, she coos like a dove. She is such a sweet little mommy. I really hope her eggs hatch so that we have the privilege of seeing her with the baby chicks. 

Grama Harper's Chicken Yard

                               
My mother grew up on a farm, and she says watching a hen with her chicks is a sweet experience.  Approximate date for hatching: Oct 9th - less than a week away!  I am looking forward to posting pics of Mommy & Babies!

Shalom Y'all - Twyla

Pretty Face

Pretty Face, setting on her eggs

     "Pretty Face" is the name of one of our hens.  Pretty Face has decided to be broody. For a chicken, being broody means she wants to set on eggs. Her eggs. "Miss Congeniality's" eggs. "Runt's" eggs.  EVERYBODY's eggs!  Pretty Face has been sitting/setting for 4 or 5 days now.  Since she's in the coop that doesn't have a rooster, Moshe traded her eggs for (hopefully) fertilized ones from the coop that does have the rooster.  He gave her three eggs, and labeled them #1, #2, and #3 with a pencil. This way if she keeps gathering everybody else's eggs, like she's been doing the past couple days, we can take away the unmarked eggs and leave numbers one, two, and three for her to hatch.  (This morning she had eight eggs under her; I've read where hens will try to set as many as twenty!!!).
     Pretty Face is the only chicken of our dozen to demonstrate this broody behavior.  Isn't it funny how just one chicken decided to feel motherly?  From what I've read, usually if a chicken gets broody, she will be a good mother hen.  Most of them never feel like setting. We are blessed to have Pretty Face, because we were hoping to raise some chicks.  So far, God has provided everything we've hoped for when it comes to our animals. So, we are marking the calendar for twenty-one days, and, will see if we get some baby chicks.
     Now that Pretty Face has the distinction of being a brood hen, she will need to be moved - soon - to her own little chicken condo.  The little private chicken house only needs to be one room and can be used for incubation, hatching, and then for a week or so after the chicks have hatched. Baby chicks grow daily, and they will need another place fairly soon after hatching. We are already thinking about gathering materials for Moshe to build a third ark.   We'll see...
                                                              Shalom Y'all - Twyla