Clover my Broody Beauty

[ChookaPete]

My darling HyLine hen Clover went broody for the second time in her life, earlier this month. I was away for a couple of weeks, and although I had a friend collect the eggs occasionally, a clutch formed and Clover decided to try and hatch them.

Clover's nest is in a corner of the coop - the rest of my flock are sleeping above on the perch.
Apologies for the lighting - I have lights on at sunrise and sunset to help them see into and out of the coop when the go to roost/get up in the morning.

She is still quite friendly to me and the rest of the flock. In fact she even allows my leghorn Chamomile (her 'surrogate' daughter) lay an egg each day right next to her!

When I say "coop" - this is just where my chooks sleep, and some also lay their eggs. During the day my chooks free range across the backyard and the front yard - as it is a very hot summer at present they mostly hang out in the front yard where a side garden is partially fenced off as a long chicken run, where I also have a water bucket and feeder barrel.




Mind you my chickens lay eggs wherever they like, despite my efforts to train them to use nests by placing golf balls in them. Before I went away, Clover and Chamomile were laying their eggs NEXT to a nest set up on the other side of the coop. Then for some reason they switched.


Here is a video of Clover trying to get all the eggs underneath her:
https://streamable.com/1zg136


I have a motion sensor alarm set up to alert me when Clover leaves her clutch in the coop - she goes right through to the front yard to the rest of the flock to eat/drink/poop/have a dust bath, even though there is food, water, and dirt available right outside the coop!


The thing is, I am not concerned about her going broody. I don't believe in breaking chickens out of broodiness, and anyway most of my chickens pick their own nests so there is no hogging of the nest - and as said already Clover is happy with (at least) Chamomile laying eggs next to her.

Since these photos were taken I have removed a lot of the eggs so she could cover the rest properly. Of course it does not matter if she does or not, as none of them are fertilised (I have no rooster). I am thinking to acquire some fertilised eggs for Clover to hatch and then raise the chicks, but I may need to build a second coop for that.




Is it true that HyLines live shorter than lives than other breeds because they are bred to lay constantly throughout the year? As this is the second time that Clover has gone broody (and none of my other HyLines have yet to go broody), does this mean that due to the lesser amount of time spent laying eggs, would she live longer than her sisters?

 

[Callender Girl]

I chuckled out loud watching Clover try to "herd" all of those eggs underneath her. What a determined girl!

I don't have any idea about HyLines life expectancies nor what determines them.

But I think you'd have your work cut out trying to break Clover of her broodiness, even if you wanted to. She seems quite intent on taking care of eggs, no matter whose they are.

As someone whose dream of having "just a few" hens has spiraled out of control and includes too many chickens and too many coops, I would not be opposed to letting her get some fertilized eggs and adding a coop -- or two!

 

[ChookaPete]

I chuckled out loud watching Clover try to "herd" all of those eggs underneath her. What a determined girl!

I don't have any idea about HyLines life expectancies nor what determines them.

But I think you'd have your work cut out trying to break Clover of her broodiness, even if you wanted to. She seems quite intent on taking care of eggs, no matter whose they are.

As someone whose dream of having "just a few" hens has spiraled out of control and includes too many chickens and too many coops, I would not be opposed to letting her get some fertilized eggs and adding a coop -- or two!

Hello! I am glad you got a laugh out of seeing her - I love her so much! Yes she is very determined!
I had to take some eggs away just so she doesn't feel like it is an impossible task to sit on them all!

Clover was a very good mother to Chamomile right up to the point to laying eggs herself. I guess that is why she does not mind her laying eggs next to her?

Yes I started with four chickens, then went up to five, now seven!

I'd like to get her some fertilised eggs, but I want some other breeds like a Frizzle, as they can handle the heat well. My concern is that in less than two weeks time I shall be away for work for a few weeks, and I want to be home for any eggs to hatch.



However just the other day a neighbour asked if I could host her chooks for a month, as she will be between houses. She said she will put bands around their legs so they can be identified from mine (even though they are different breeds), and provide extra feed etc.
I agreed, so by mid February I might have a lot more amongst my flock, and possibly a rooster - so I may just end up with some baby chicks just after I return!