A Midsummer Night's Team

Yesterday, I set out to do the evening walk around with the kids before doing the watering. I had a camera in y pocket, since the monsoon season leads to the most amazing sunsets and skies.  As we went to the big pen, we stopped to look at the Brahma pen, where I am doing some preventive treatments. I floated a couple thoughts by the kids, and then kept walking to the big pen.

As Wyatt and I discussed the dirt I had added to fill in the dirt bath holes while the kids were away at camp, we tag teamed to pull the eggs from under Poofy the blue Cochin. I stood up and noticed and egg int he rafters off to the side. and pointed it out to Wyatt. As I looked further across, I found this hen, sitting on a clutch of eggs in the loft where we are storing straw for next winter. Wyatt tracked my line of sight immediately.

Neither Wyatt nor I had any real clue whether she had been there the day before, so we chose to leave the eggs with her for now. We counted and marked them, and let the broody be broody.

Since we cannot use the eggs fro the Brahma pen for another week, we decided to let her keep hers as well. I wanted to clean the pen, but it was still really muddy from the rain, and since I pulled the eggs long enough to mark them, I decided that was enough messing with the temperamental broody for the day. Her pen can be cleaned in the morning.  So instead I got a little more of the roof reinforcement done.

I did get a little video of her regathering her eggs, though.

In the end, I managed to order the new thermometers for the bator, so hopefully I can get that back in balance tonight to start hatching out the fall babies, Especially since the Javas are almost ready to move out of the baby area!  Always more to do than time to do it, right? Well, out of these eggs, I have no idea how many will hatch, but if I do get the incubator balanced, it will be nice to see how many of the eggs with the hen hatch, versus some in the bator later in the week.  In the meantime, this little team of silly broody hens can take on the rest of summer as mamas to be... or prospective ones, anyway!