Buffy making predator noises
Buffy the Buff Orpington is broody again.
She went broody last year around this time despite it being punishingly hot and I let her hatch out some fertilized eggs I bought off a neighbor. The problem with fertilized eggs is that you end up with 50% males and I don’t want roosters1. So I do the ol’ switcheroo:
Let her sit on some ceramic eggs for a week or two
Wait until night and replace fake eggs with freshly hatched chicks. If I order chicks from a hatchery that hatches out on Monday I get them Wednesday so I do it that night.
Broody hen wakes up thinking she hatched them herself and takes care of them
Buffy went broody back in April and I gave her 10 female barred rock chicks and it worked perfectly, she didn’t lose a single one even though they free range and we have all sorts of feral cats and bobcats and coyotes around.
I will be ordering chicks in the next couple weeks. Any requests? My preschooler is requesting “a goldie one with a tail” and I’ll get a couple Buff Orpington maybe some Black Australorp. If you need chickens ( everyone needs chickens) and live in DFW let me know
Lil’ Romeo did not survive to see 2022, I gave him to a Honduran acquaintance no questions asked and he made a delicious New Year’s Eve caldo