Ahh my evil bat crap crazy game hen Momma. This hen is the bane of my existence. I love her and want to throttle her at the same time. This was not her first time hatching in colder weather either, the first time was her 2nd clutch several years ago that hatched out the first of November. She is at least 9 coming on 10 years old. I do not know her exact age as she was brought to one of the horse shows years ago for a chicken chase during intermission for the kids. That girl is smart, they dropped her in the middle of the ring and instead of running around she flew to the hillside. For almost 4 years she lived feral behind my house rarely coming off the hill. In fact she was so rarely seen I would forget about her existence until she would appear briefly. When the barn changed hands I noticed she was hanging closely behind it a lot. We were chicken less then and my daughter desperately wanted chicks. I made her a deal, tame that hen and you can have chickens. It took her a year, but she did it. We had horses boarded at the barn so were down there daily. She started out by dumping feed outside the barn for her. After she got used to coming to eat she moved the feed inside the barn door. Eventually Momma would come up and eat out of your hand as long as you did not move. Momma then stopped sleeping in the trees on the hill and took up residence in the barn sleeping on the rafters. During the taming period she survived a hawk attack that resulted in her loosing the toes on one of her feet and left her with a scar on the back of her head. If she would have let us catch her then we might have been able to save the toes but could never get within 20 feet of her then so she lost them. The first year she lived in the barn she began laying in it as well. That should have been my first clue this hen would drive me batty. Fixed her a nest box. Did she use it, nope, she likes to play the game of find the easter egg. She likes to lay a couple in obvious places then finds the most out of the way difficult to reach spot to lay. IF she can lay 3 to 4 eggs in one spot and they not be disturbed it triggers broodiness. EVERY SINGLE TIME. She was constantly broody. No rooster so the eggs were useless but that did not stop her. She is also next to impossible to break up. If you are successful give it 2 weeks and she is back to hiding eggs and the cycle repeats itself. After a year we relented and bought some fertile hatching eggs from a friend and she hatched out 5. 3 survived to adulthood. 1 hen and 2 roosters. The chicks were about 7 months old when the barn changed hands again and we moved the horses and the chickens up the road 1/4 of a mile to my house. All except Momma. She kept going back to the barn. I would have to herd that hen home daily as she still to this day does not like to be handled. In October she disappeared. Looked everywhere for her including the barn and no sign of her. Thought something had finally got her. Imagine my surprise when I get a call from my dad to come down to the barn and get my crazy hen and her chicks. She had managed to get in between the stall boards to hide her eggs and hatched off 4. I caught the chicks, taking a beating from Momma in the process. Carried them home with momma following flogging the entire way. Did I mention I have urges to strangle her at times? Set them up in a dog crate and it finally clicked with her that the barn was no longer home while she reared those chicks. 3 boys 1 girl. Since then we have come to a understanding. Her job is to rear chicks, not be a egg layer. If I try to break her from a nest spot that I know of and have access to she will reward me with disappearing and coming home with chicks in tow. I now simply let her build her clutch and start setting. Once she has sat for a day I swap out her eggs with those I wish her to hatch. She averages 4 clutches a year and hangs onto her chicks until they are at least 8 weeks old, sometimes longer. She is also fiercely protective. Those first few weeks do not look, do not get near and most of all do not touch her chicks. You will be rewarded with a angry hen coming at you using her stumpy foot as a club. It makes ensuring the chicks have clean water and chick starter available fun. All that being said I put up with her and her antics because she is smart and a survivor. Every chick she has raised she has passed on those qualities. I will never have another hen like her, and not sure I want another one either. She has already raised 2 clutches this year. Those that hatched in January and another clutch she hatched in April. She is not yet back to laying, at least I have not found a egg from her yet. She is close though, her face has reddened back up and she is inspecting nest spots.
Momma Hen in all her glory with her April chicks.
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The anything that is harming the little brats are the parents for letting a child of that age anywhere near a rooster.
I just cannot be dealing with that sort of nonsense. When I was a kid I covered in bashes and bangs, gravel rash anf dirt. Wtf is wrong with people?
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