Beautiful Sweet the lovely Silkie has been broody for about a week now. I swear she goes broody if you look at her crosseyed. Still, that's a good thing right now. As most of you have read, I put Sushi's (the Yokohama/Phoenix) eggs under Beautiful Sweet. I still have to wait about a week to candle them and find out if they're viable, so I'm on pins and needles. Lovely Sushi gave me one more egg today (in the nest box even!) so I put that one under Beautiful Sweet with the others too.
Remember I said that Sushi laid really small eggs? Here's something to give you an idea of HOW small.
Maybe it's just my monitor, but it looks "fatter" in this pic.
Her eggs are so tiny and delicate, and such a lovely shade of cream.
And here's a size comparison--Vicky the Rhode Island Red's egg on the left, Sushi's egg on the right.
So far, she's been giving me one a day. I didn't think that either Phoenixes or Yokohamas were supposed to be good layers, but she's been doing an awesome job! Thanks to Candace, I'll be adding another Phoenix to that coop, and I can't wait to see what comes of that! (Her name will be Yakisoba--Yaki for short, LOL)
Side note: Maki the Magnificent is the most awesome roo I've met. He takes such good care of Sushi. If he's not overly friendly, he's not mean either. I can't wait to see what he gives me in the way of babies!
And here's Beautiful Sweet, the proud "mama." Heck, I'm pretty proud of her too. She went broody in the main coop, then I moved her and for a little bit, it looked like she wasn't going to sit the eggs I put in the crate for her. I had to keep placing her back on the nest, but once she figured out that there were eggs in there, she started setting them like a pro.
Not only did she sit those eggs, she accepted another one this afternoon with no fluttering or pecking. Even after my son decided to "help" by gathering eggs from underneath her, she took them back, all in stride. Needless to say, Arthur and I had a long talk about leaving her alone with the eggs so she could hatch them. I just hope he remembers so I don't have to padlock the broody cage. I'd probably lose the key.
The other adventure today was calling around to reserve my Easter Eggers (hopefully for close to the week of the 12th). I called Tractor Supply (my farm store of choice) in Mac and they didn't have any. I called Orscheln in Mac and they were sold out, and wouldn't get more till mid April. Folks, I REALLY don't want to brood THREE batches within two months. I'm good, I'm dang good, but I'm not THAT good. So finally, I found out that the Orscheln in Newton would have a shipment ON THE WEEK THAT I WANTED THEM!!! WOOHOO!!!! At first it felt like pulling teeth, but finally got some joy. They have my name, they have my numbers, and they'll hold some for me. Now I'm wrecking my eyes trying to study and remember how to sex chicks by down color--after all, the last Easter Egger I got turned out to be a rooster. I DO NOT need any more roosters.
I'll also get the meat birds. Probably Cornish X to start with, and my new friend Russell has been kind enough to agree to show me how to process in exchange for a few birds. I figure that's more than fair. If that goes well enough, I'll probably get 25-50 more. After all, I think I might have a line on another chicken tractor for sale, as well as a homemade plucker I can borrow. AWESOME.
Keep your fingers crossed for me, folks. I have the suspicion that the eggs from Sushi aren't fertile, but I've been wrong before. And hey, Beautiful Sweet is one of the happiest hens you've ever seen right now. At least for today, our farm is a peaceable kingdom.
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