Broody chook

[Barmaid]

My beautiful and most prolific egg layer has just decided it is time to raise some babies!!! She's a monster. Had a right go at me when I went to lift her off the nest box.

I am thinking of giving her some fertilised pure breed eggs to sit on so she can raise a brood (I have access to free fresh fertilised Light Sussex eggs and the cock bird of that flock is truly magnificent!).

I could then sell (or give away) the chicks when old enough.

Any tips? Do you think the cats would just kill them? Although tbh, the chooks are the boss of the cats and I've even seen ASBO (one of the cats) shooting across the garden, terrified after an "incident" with Marge!!!

[wolf63]

What 'incident' ?

[Barmaid]

lol Wolf. He fancied chicken for lunch. She fancied pussycat........

[wolf63]

You should invest in CCTV so that such events can be recorded. :-)

[Barmaid]

lol, got that. Trouble is, it didn't cover that particular incident. They are hilarious though. She is such a bossy bird.

[Barmaid]

That's what worries me RH. Dad reckons we are in for a wet and windy Jan, and thinks we could yet have a cold Feb, so I don't want to risk babies towards the end of Jan to be in the cold spell in Feb. I'm coping with broody bitch by just lifting her off the nest box and shutting it up once they've all laid, but I am back to work tomorrow so I won't be around all the time to police the situation!

[wildwood]

cats? while she's chasing one around the other one(s) will have a quick snack.

Don't worry about the cold but she needs to be protected from the felines, at least while the chicks are still in the peeping stage. The sound is irresistible to cats.