Trudy the Broody (hen)

I have a bossy mother. Do any of you out there have a bossy mom? Of course she would say the same thing about me, but that's another story. My mom informed me yesterday that the name of our broody hen is Trudy and stated that a blog post is in order.

Not Trudy - but one of the new ones

(And since Trudy is an expectant mother and will soon be the star of our farm, I guess my mom is right, although I would never tell her that. It can be our little secret - don't tell her).

So let's get caught up first. Our egg sales have been very successful and we weren't able to keep up. I asked a bunch of farmer friends if they had extra eggs and most said they were selling out as well. Pam from Peaceful Valley saw an ad on Craigslist and let me know a guy was selling laying chickens. I jumped at the opportunity and the Lovey and I got five laying hens. They began laying right away in their new digs and we've been able to catch up on our egg orders. YAY!

And then a hen went broody. I put a golf ball in each of the laying buckets we had to let the girls know where they were supposed to lay their eggs, and one chicken decided that she wanted to hatch the golf ball. A little reading (thank goodness for the internet) and, we placed said broody hen into her own condo, and put some fertilized eggs under her. How many eggs you ask? Why - Seven - of course!

Trudy the Broody

Trudy has been a good mother so far. She has been a diligent sitter, and her comb and face has turned a bit pale. Checking the internet once again, this is normal. She's not laying eggs, she's sitting - literally 24 hours a day (except for the few moments once daily where she gets off to drink, eat a teeny bit and poop), so paleness is normal.

Tomorrow is day 21... hatch day. If she continues to be a good mom, she will sit on these chicks for a bit, show them how to eat and drink,and then show them the how-to's of being a chicken. It should be interesting to watch. Stay tuned for photos as Trudy the Broody allows us to get close to her babes.