She still has one side of the beak uneven and the bottom shows a couple of "fracture lines", but I am hoping over time these will disappear. I guess I could get out the emory board and file down the uneven side...ha ha, like she would sit still for that!
The best part is she will allow me to pick her up sometimes, so at least I can make a close inspection of the injury. She actually does the chicken squat as I call it [they will squat down for a rooster to mount them] and let me pick her up from that position. Does that mean I am the Dominate One? Well, whatever....at least I can pick her up now and be a good nurse.
I did use my calendula-comfrey-olive oil salve on the beak early on, believing that it and the goldenseal helped the healing.
[The salve is great on mites on their legs; as well as human dry skin conditions....if you are interested in a jar, just email me for details!].
* * * * *
 |
| Dance of the Broody Hen |
Exactly 6 months almost to the day, Curious starts her 'broody' dance again.
On thursday the 9th., she started growling and fluffing up her feathers, then she gets a vacant stare and stops hogging all the food. When I find her in a nest box at odd times of the day, I know her chicken hormones have kicked in and she wants to hatch a brood. Sorry, Babe, but without a rooster to fertilize those beautiful eggs, ya ain't gonna get any youngsters.
The good news is the other 3 now get a good chance at worms and food goodies because she is just not that interested. At least while it has been darned hot [90's +], I take her off the nest and she will drink a lot of water.
Last time she was broody for the whole month of February. I bet it will be about the same again. It takes 21 days of incubation by a momma to begin hatching eggs: of course, she would have to lay one a day first to get a 'clutch' of eggs and most ranchers let them sit on 6: and, actually they will all hatch within 48 hours of each other, usually based on the last egg laid.
Fascinating! Maybe I will have to get some fertile eggs from Chicken Mentor Barb sometime and have the experience.
It makes me chuckle to watch her strut around the coop, with feathers puffed up like a Thanksgiving turkey. I know she is hoping that there is a whole line of little chicks following her! "They" say the Plymouth Barred Rock makes a good mother - with the way she acts, I know that would be true.
Naturally, egg production, such as it is with 4 girls, is down while Curious, my best layer, does the maternal thing. I do have a great routine to monitor my egg production. I have one of those small calendars where I write each day who laid an egg and then I have an individual log for how many eggs each one lays in a year. That is how I know who is the lead-layer and who is the least productive [Fearless]. Curious will be bumped out of top spot because of the broodiness and Gabby, #2, will take over the honors. Will have to see if Curious catches up or not..humm...that will be interesting to log in.
It's actually really fun for me to know who lays how often and how many eggs a week they are producing...okay, maybe too over the top for most chicken owners.....
Bye for now ..... Cluck on where ever you are!
