She has gone broody (wants to set eggs) and her personality has changed, as has her appearence-- everything is different!
What was once the most passive, quiet, beautiful, serene hen is now a dinosaur who, on the rare occassions she emerges from the depths of the coop, screams at everyone, attacks everything, and returns to her eggs.
What a shock she'll have when she realizes that I replaced her eggs with muscovy duck eggs :). Can you picture it? She'll introduce them to the outdoors and have a *fit* when they start swimming away from her.
That is, if any hatch.
It has been an interesting example of animal behavior and chickens are certainly more intelligent than they are given credit for, because she has three times rejected bad eggs. And, by rejected, I mean she rolls them across the coop, down the ramp, and away from her. At least one of those was most definitely rotten. Smart mama hen!
Her being broody means we are currently down to three eggs a day (she's not laying) and that we have to move her away from her nest once a day with a stick to retrieve the eggs the other hens are laying, as they are giving their eggs to her to hatch.
At times like that she resembles most a velociraptor...
...sound effects and all!
1 comment:
Ah! Chicken PMS! Good stuff.
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