Moody, Broody Hens

This Post contains Affiliate Links.

     A while back, my cousin gave us a beautiful pair of Jersey Giant hens. They were 18 months old and were laying eggs. He said that Jersey Giants were slower to mature but made great layers. Zoey and I Ooohed and Aaaahed over them for days. They are solid black with bright red combs and piercing black eyes. They would not let us get near them though. My cousin said they were very friendly with his family and I hoped they just needed a little time to get used to us. 
     In the mean time, I thought this would be a good time to have Zoey do a little research project. Zoey got on our Chromebook and looked up 'Jersey Giant Chickens.' We talked about what 'Pros and Cons' were. She wrote her information in her new spiral notebook. This is what she found. 

Pros

Docile, beautiful, very large, stunning beauty, very hardy, size tends to deter predators

Cons

Slower growth, slightly poorer egg production, they eat a lot

12 Facts About Jersey Giants

1. They were created in the late 1800s by John and Thomas Black by cross breeding 3 differrent kinds of chickens.
2. Their name came from the state they were created in, New Jersey, and their size, Giant.
3. They are slow growers.
4. Jersey Giants eat A LOT.
5. They are a good breed for the cold.
6. They like to sit on their eggs and hatch them.
7. Jersey Giants are good mommies.
8. They are a dual purpose bird. They lay eggs and they are big enough to make a good meal.
9. They are very soft. 
10. Their eggs are a light to medium brown color.
11. They lay extra large eggs.
12. Jersey Giants tend to get along well with your other pets.

    

     How are our Jersey Giant Hens? Well... They are moody. The hens HATE our kitten and attack him every time he follows us to the coop. They still do not even like us after months of trying to be their friends. We can barely get near them. It has to be dusk or night time for us to be able to pet them, but, they are oh so soft! 

     Their eggs are a darker color than what our other hens lay. Can you tell which eggs are from our Jersey Giants? Hint: they are the larger and darker ones. ;)

     A couple of months ago, one of our hens went broody. What does that mean? Well like a woman hearing her biological clock ticking, a broody hen is determined to sit on her eggs and hatch her some babies. You can learn more about broody hens HERE. Honestly, since we just brought home 3 chicks from our schools hatching experiment, I was really hoping they would get over it. We had enough chickens already. 

Let's see...

3 Chicks from daycare. Unsure of breed or sex yet.

1 Road Island Red Hen

2 Jersey Giant Hens

1 Silver Spangled Hamburg Rooster

1 Bantam Hen

9 Plymouth Rock Cross hens and roosters waiting to go to freezer camp. 

     So basically, we had 17 chickens at this time and were not wanting anymore chicks! Besides, we no longer had a mature rooster to fertilize the eggs. After three months, this hen was just not getting over her 'baby fever' and we felt so bad for her, we had to do something. 

     While at work one day, I was telling some of the girls about my broody chicken and not wanting more chicks. My friend has raised chickens in the past and said she would take any babies if I decided to get some fertile eggs. Okay then, why not? Let's do this! First thing I did, was call a local Ag Extension agent to see where I could get some fertile eggs. Their lady was not local, and wanted $8 a dozen. What? By the time I paid for gas, I would have spent $20 for 12 fertile eggs that may or may not hatch. (You remember our luck with hatching chicks right? If not, read the article HERE.) I got on Facebook and asked around some local farm animal groups, but all eggs were to expensive. Kinda wish I knew this when we had a rooster! Finally, a friend of mine messaged me and said she had A TON of fertile Bantam eggs. She met me half way between her house and mine. Instead of a dozen, she gave me 36 eggs and would not let me pay her for them. Now that is an amazing friend! 

    Now at this point, a blogger would have thought to take pictures of 36 small eggs that fit into a quart size baggy. Nope, I forgot! And you would have thought that I would have remembered to get a photo of the eggs in the nest, but no. However, there is a good reason for that. The hen decided she would not sit in the hen box that is on a top shelf like she had been sitting in for 3 months. She suddenly wanted to lay them in the bottom stall. Great.. I transferred the eggs from the top box to the bottom one, and slowly, carefully, placed them next to the scary broody hen. (Yes, scary. She tried to bite my hand off till she figured out I was giving her eggs!) 

Easy Momma! I'm trying to help you out here!

    We marked the calendar for 3 weeks. Time to wait to see what happens... Strangely enough, the other Jersey Giant hen decided she wanted to sit on the eggs as well. We checked on the girls daily. Rarely did we see them come off of their nest. When they did, it was only one at a time, and only for food and drink. When we got near them, the made warning noises to tell us not to come too close. Trust me, we didn't! These ladies are moody and broody! 

    About 4 days till the due date, we recounted the days to make sure our chicks would be hatching the coming weekend. Saturday came, I was in the garden, Alex was helping me with making more bamboo stakes for the tomatoes, Zoey had just gone inside to journal about our Potato Bucket Reveal, and Mike was checking the coop for eggs. I just happened to look over and see him emerge from the coop, cutest smirk on his face, and his hands cupped together, holding something very tiny. A chick! The three of us pet the tiny baby chick for a moment and then decided to surprise Zoey inside the house, rather than call her out. 

This silly girl is extremely excited! 

  Our broody, moody hens hatched out 17 eggs in total. We will be keeping a few. Yes, I know I said we didn't want anymore, but it's called 'Chicken Math' and you really can't deny Chicken Math. (Seriously, it is a real thing!) The rest will be going to my friend at work. 

    Today, Zoey and I went out to try to get some pictures of the chicks. It is hard to do, because, the mommies won't let us get near them. Not even one! They start freaking out and then the babies freak out. Suddenly, there are chicks running crazy like all over the place and it is just a crazy silly mess. We try to just watch them at a distance as not to upset them. Lately, hawks have decided to make our little farm their hunting site. We lost Little Red and Mike's Silver Spangled Hamburg rooter. (The one that refused to leave his side in the garage when we got out of the hospital. Insert sad face here for both.) AND, I swear there were 19 chicks at one point.... 

We did brave getting close enough to get a few pictures for you! Look! :D

So there you go! SUCCESS with a chicken hatch! Will we be doing it again? Yes, I think so. My friend said she would be happy to donate eggs at any time. We will just have to wait and see when our Jersey Giants get moody and broody again! 

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates. I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online. Please note, I am not affiliated with, nor do I receive compensation from Wikipedia, McMurray Hatchery, or The Chicken Chick. I just like their pages and refer to them often in my own daily use. I doubt they even know I link to them on my blog from time to time. :)

A New Friend

This post contains no Affiliate Links.

     This was actually meant to be a post about our new bunnies. The mini lop rabbits we got at Easter breed and 7 little baby bunny kits were born this month. Our rabbits live in colonies, not cages. Two died from being dragged out of their nest by mom. Because of all of the thunderstorms that weekend, we didn't realize they were out until it was too late. I imagine it is about the equivalent of being born on the wire. We were sad, but we had 5 baby bunnies to make up for it. 

She was so happy.

     Then the other night, thunderstorms came again. I work up at 4:30 amidst the thunder, lightening and the downpour of rain. Did I pull the tarp back down over the rabbit shed? Did I put the lid back on the tote used as their house? I could not sleep. Finally, I put on my sweatshirt and mud boots to go outside. The tote's lid was secure, the tarp was in place, and everyone was just fine.  I posted on the blogs Facebook Fan Page about my early morning adventures and went back to bed with a sigh of relief. 
     When I awoke later that morning, my husband was just coming in from feeding the animals. I could tell something was wrong. He told me he had bad news. Four of the kits made it out of the tote and then out of the rabbit shed. Four bunnies laid on the cold wet ground, dead. My heart broke. Not only for the bunnies, but for my daughter as well. She had spent the night at my mom's house. We were meeting in just a little bit in town so Zoey and I could go paint the boys bathroom at my work. I dreaded telling her the awful news. 
     I checked on them. They were all fine just 3 hours before! What could have happened? Maybe when I went out there, the mommy bunny was nursing? Maybe she drug them out of the nest on accident while she was trying to figure out what I was doing? Did they crawl out? How could baby bunnies crawl out of their nest, out of the tote and out of the shed? :( I'll never know. 
     Zoey was devastated, as I knew she would be. She has decided maybe the rabbit business is just not for us. We had three other rabbits die previous to this. All three escaped and was 'rounded up' by our dog. We fortified the colony after that and thought we were on the right track. It is hard on us. Maybe we are just not read for rabbits yet... 
     As we finished painting and started cleaning up for the night, my son texted me, "Can we have a cat?" My first reply was, "No!" My husband is not a cat fan, he would not be happy! We have chickens and rabbits and we certainly didn't need a little predator running around that lives with us! We have enough problems on the farm as it is! 
     When I picked up my son from his friends house, I saw the kitten. I saw my children's faces. In a moment of weakness, I said "yes" to the cat. 
     The new kitten was at our house for over an hour before I told my husband. I gave him my best pouty face and said I was weak hearted from the bunnies dying. After a little of working my sweet magic, he sighed his resignation to the fact we now have a new friend. However, the kitten can not sleep in the house at night. (We have made him a bed in a cat carrier until he gets big enough to roam on his own.) AND if he smells cat poop in the house, it will not be allowed in the house anymore, period. (My hubby is cat poop sensitive and can smell it a mile away. Even the best kitty litter around can not keep him from sniffing it out! Kids are now on constant kitty watch.)  

     Today, the kitten came out to the garden with us. We spent a good deal of time weeding and planting. It ran around our feet, climbed up our legs, attacked our toes and kept us smiling and laughing all day. I think we all really needed him as much as he needed us. 

By the end of the day, we were all tired. 

Especially this little guy! Zoey tried everything to get him to wake up for some photos. Nope. Not happening! 

Do you have a cat around your farm? We <3 your comments! 
     

Disclosure: I am Amazon Affiliate and may receive a small compensation for including links on my blog. Buying through my links is not necessary, just appreciated. Amazon does not charge extra for linked items recommended by their affiliates.  I only recommend products that I use and trust OR plan on using in the future. Please buy responsibly and do your own product research before buying anything online.