Whenever I pay a visit to the ladies, Lemon seems to sulk and make deranged clucking noises. If I even move or come near her, she erupts in a hysteria of strange clucking; walking around fluffed up a bit in a wary mode.
I dismissed the fact the Lemon could be broody. It simply wasn't very likely in Leghorns since they were bred for egg production, and most of their broodiness was probably bred out of the breed.
But Lemon still continued to make weird clucking noises and strut around day on and day out. At dusk when the flock went to roost, and I to close the coop door.....Lemon still glared at me, ruffling up her feathers with a disgruntled expression. Charcoal, Spice, and Lime softly clucked to reassure her.
I locked the door and whispered goodnight to the chickens.
She wasn't in the outside nesting box.
Nor the old doghouse where the ladies held their secret meetings.
So finally I checked the coop, and snugly fitted inside one of the nesting boxes was Lemon. She grumbled at me and raised her hackles.
I left her alone and wondered.
Lemon could be broody, but I would give her a few more days and see. I know that a lot of hens get "broody" (or sham-broody)only to walk off their nest after two or three days of boredom in the coop.
Being broody does have its high points, and I was planning on incubating some eggs from Common Ground.
But who knows, does Lemon have the determination to brood a nest full of eggs?
In the meanwhile, the rest of the chickens are still going only their daily lives, tilling the earth and searching for worms while Lemon lies bedridden in the coop; full of broodiness.
She reminds me very much of broody Butter from my previous flock. When Butter was broody, she strutted around the whole chicken fence making the same clucking noises Lemon was, with feathers up and wing drooping low to the ground. She was a crazy broody but a good mother and I still miss her "crazy broody mode". She never bit me when I checked the eggs underneath her, only made complaints.
 |
| Here she is, a bit upset since I locked her out of the coop. |
(Butter is actually growling at the camera, not me)
I dismissed the fact the Lemon could be broody. It simply wasn't very likely in Leghorns since they were bred for egg production, and most of their broodiness was probably bred out of the breed.
But Lemon still continued to make weird clucking noises and strut around day on and day out. At dusk when the flock went to roost, and I to close the coop door.....Lemon still glared at me, ruffling up her feathers with a disgruntled expression. Charcoal, Spice, and Lime softly clucked to reassure her.
I locked the door and whispered goodnight to the chickens.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
One day, I looked outside and didn't see Lemon. Where could she have gone?She wasn't in the outside nesting box.
Nor the old doghouse where the ladies held their secret meetings.
So finally I checked the coop, and snugly fitted inside one of the nesting boxes was Lemon. She grumbled at me and raised her hackles.
I left her alone and wondered.
Lemon could be broody, but I would give her a few more days and see. I know that a lot of hens get "broody" (or sham-broody)only to walk off their nest after two or three days of boredom in the coop.
Being broody does have its high points, and I was planning on incubating some eggs from Common Ground.
But who knows, does Lemon have the determination to brood a nest full of eggs?
In the meanwhile, the rest of the chickens are still going only their daily lives, tilling the earth and searching for worms while Lemon lies bedridden in the coop; full of broodiness.
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