Saturday 26th November 2016
November broodiness??
We have been aware for a while that one of this year’s Indian Game pullets has NOT been sleeping in the poultry stall at night. We had no idea where she went to but we would spy her each day back in the paddock, albeit briefly. If it was spring or summer we might have assumed she had been off laying eggs and then become broody, but surely that was not possible at the end of November?
Well, it seems it is!!! As Jack was walking back from checking the sheep this morning, a dark brown patch caught her eye in the hedgerow and closer inspection revealed a beak and two eyes attached to it… We then learnt what a vicious little 'pecker' she is, as an attempt to check just exactly what she was sitting on resulted in a bloodied hand!!!
Sleeves rolled up and gloves donned, we managed to get under and found THIRTEEN eggs. It is a lovely nest and she is obviously doing a grand job of protecting it but it is the winter and chicks hatched at this time of year won’t necessarily have the best start in life. Whilst our cockerels are still ‘treading’ they are not as vigorous as they are in the spring/ summer and so we thought that the number of fertile eggs in this brood was likely to be low: candling however revealed otherwise. It looks as though twelve out of the thirteen are fertile AND still alive.
We are forecast sub zero temperatures at night this coming week which aren’t great for the pullet let alone her eggs. Keeping warm takes a lot of energy and we certainly don’t want her to suffer and lose weight. There is also the small matter of predators!!! Not that we have seen signs of any at all on our land (yet??).
We were faced with several choices: leave everything as is; put the pullet back in the poultry stall and throw the eggs (and so in effect kill the growing embryos) or try to move the pullet with eggs into the poultry barn where they all will be both safer and warmer.
We opted for the last choice knowing that the pullet may abandon the eggs anyway (broody birds don't always take kindly to being moved) but feeling that we wanted to give the eggs some kind of chance. If needs be, we can provide any chicks that hatch with a heat lamp and keep them safe and secure in a run inside the stall itself. If she does continue to sit, we won't expect a great hatch rate but will keep you posted!!!
Sleeves rolled up and gloves donned, we managed to get under and found THIRTEEN eggs. It is a lovely nest and she is obviously doing a grand job of protecting it but it is the winter and chicks hatched at this time of year won’t necessarily have the best start in life. Whilst our cockerels are still ‘treading’ they are not as vigorous as they are in the spring/ summer and so we thought that the number of fertile eggs in this brood was likely to be low: candling however revealed otherwise. It looks as though twelve out of the thirteen are fertile AND still alive.
We are forecast sub zero temperatures at night this coming week which aren’t great for the pullet let alone her eggs. Keeping warm takes a lot of energy and we certainly don’t want her to suffer and lose weight. There is also the small matter of predators!!! Not that we have seen signs of any at all on our land (yet??).
We were faced with several choices: leave everything as is; put the pullet back in the poultry stall and throw the eggs (and so in effect kill the growing embryos) or try to move the pullet with eggs into the poultry barn where they all will be both safer and warmer.
We opted for the last choice knowing that the pullet may abandon the eggs anyway (broody birds don't always take kindly to being moved) but feeling that we wanted to give the eggs some kind of chance. If needs be, we can provide any chicks that hatch with a heat lamp and keep them safe and secure in a run inside the stall itself. If she does continue to sit, we won't expect a great hatch rate but will keep you posted!!!