Onyx sitting on her nest

Here is a photo of Onyx - our first broody hen.  Onyx is a rumpless Araucana.  She is sitting on 11 eggs.  It's anyone's guess about the eggs.  I collected the eggs just a few days after I re-homed several of our roosters.  It should be interesting to see what chicks emerge.  I hope that out of the 11 eggs, I get at least 3 or 4 pullets to add to our laying flock. 

Yes - the nest box she is in is a modular storage box I got at Walmart.  When I saw it, I knew it was perfect for a nest box - and it is!

 

Onyx doesn't look very happy that I'm taking her photo.  At least I didn't disturb her by trying to get a photo of the eggs underneath her.

Onyx, the Broody Hen

Onyx, our solid black Araucana is broody!  Until last year when I got chickens and started reading about them, I wasn't sure what broody meant!  When a hen "goes broody" it means that she wants to sit on and hatch some eggs.

The signs of a broody hen are unmistakeable.  She will get in a nest box and stay there - all day, all night - for days.  She might get up for a very few minutes each day to eat, drink and poop.  Then she's right back in the nest.  Broody hens are very protective of their nest.  If you come anywhere close to her, she will growl at you.  She also keeps her feathered fluffed up as big as possible to cover the eggs well.

After Onyx had been in the nest box for a couple days, I moved her to her very own broody pen and put 11 fertilized (hopefully!) eggs in the nest box for her.  She has been sitting on them faithfully since last Wednesday.  Incubation for chickens takes 21 days - although with the heat we have here right now, these might hatch a day or two early.  So Tuesday, June 12th is the approximate hatch date.  I'll be checking on her often during that Monday and Tuesday.

I'll post a photo of Onyx on her nest soon.  And once we have chicks - I'll be sure to post photos of Mama Onyx and her babies.

Dogwood Trace is NPIP certified!

We had our flock tested today - and everything turned out great.  We'll get our NPIP certificate in the mail when all the paperwork is completed and filed.  I finished up my part of the paperwork a few minutes ago and have it ready to put in tomorrow's mail.

It ended up not being that big of a deal.  Thomas, the animal health technician, that came out from the TN Dept. of Agriculture, was such a courteous and professional young man.  He knew what he was doing and everything went smoothly.  Ron and I systematically caught each bird to be tested, held it while Thomas did the required tests, and then released it back to the flock.  I had been dreading it because I thought it would take forever.  However, it was over in less than an hour total with only a small amount of effort involved. 

YEA!!!!!

NPIP Testing this weekend

Finally - after a long game of phone tag between me and the NPIP folks, our flock will undergo NPIP testing this weekend.  NPIP is the National Poultry Improvement Plan - and it just means that our flock will be tested for some poultry diseases.  It will be one more part of our plan to ensure that our flock is as healthy and robust as possible!