Tag: hens

Why Hens Leave the Nest After Laying an Egg

A Hen Knows Best

Silkie
Buff Orpington

Chickens never lay more than one egg per day. If the eggs are not collected, and a sufficient number of eggs are allowed to remain in the nest, the hen may stop laying eggs and start brooding. When the hen leaves the nest after laying an egg, it cools which suspends the development of the embryo inside.
If the temperature remains between 45F and 65F, the embryos will remain viable for as long as two weeks. When the hen becomes broody and sits on her eggs for three weeks, all of the eggs will hatch at about the same time. This is why it is normal for the hen to leave the nest after laying.
Remember, not all hens will sit on eggs…ever. However, some breeds have very strong tendencies to become broody or be inclined to incubate eggs such as Silkies, Cochins, and Brahmas.

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New Shed Row Barn at TBN Ranch

The barn for my chickens is finally done! They are moved in and today’s full basket of eggs tells me they’re happy hens. Setting up the broody pen tomorrow and hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have somebody feeling motherly.

New Barn 9-10-14
Enclosed Feed Room 9-10-14
Silkie Bantam Pen 9-10-14
Builder: Curt Boyd Barns & Fencing
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Restoring Our Farm’s Pre-Storm Dignity

There are subtle hints that Fall is not that far away. This means Phoenix’s brutally hot summer is finally going to let up and we can get back to working outside. This season we’ll have a different agenda, clean-up from the monsoon storm is the priority, then the repairs and rebuilding of what was destroyed.
Although the temperatures are still a steamy 109, the sun isn’t quite as intense as it was a month ago and there are signs of relief. School supplies are on the store shelves, and summer clothes are hanging on store sale racks, and that means only one thing to me. Phoenix will soon turn from a hellish territory to a lush paradise for seven whole months.
Seven months… plenty of time to restore the farm to its pre-storm dignity. There’s a plan for the new shed row barn, and the replanting of lost trees and foliage will begin in November. There is progress, we’ve made a dent in the clean-up and the shed row barn is half down and salvaged materials neatly stacked.

Clean-up Progress
Dismantling the Barn

Our in-home remodeling projects are starting to look worthy of our efforts, and it looks like we just might meet our Spring completion deadline. However, take note I didn’t mention which Spring!
There will most likely not be any chicks in the brooder this Oct. With the barn construction, there will be too many disturbances and my hens will probably be unreliable setters.
Changes are always going to be a part of life, and none of us are immune. Rather than wallow in woe…
Perhaps change is the ladder forced upon us when we quit reaching for higher levels of accomplishment.

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