Betty Sits

A couple of weeks ago Betty, our Astralorp hen, went broody on us. We tried kicking her out of the nest any time we saw her in there, but we gave up. Really, what were we trying to prove? She moved any egg within reach into her clutch, so we gave her a golf ball to tide her over during the hours between afternoon egg-collecting and morning egg-production. Between Betty's broodiness and the shortening days, we haven't had extra eggs to sell.

Then our friends Ryan and Teri, who keep hens and a rooster, gave us five possibly fertile eggs. In a hurry, we stuck those under Betty before heading out to the Festival of Courage, and put the golf ball on the windowsill.

Today, curious about the progress of Betty's egg project, Greg stuck his hand under Betty's deliciously warm and cozy breast. Sixteen eggs. We're now wishing we'd marked those five eggs; they're all brown, and no telling who laid which egg. I might try candling them tonight. Besides, I need to know if I should get a chick set-up...stay tuned!

**Update: yesterday (the 24th) Betty transferred out of her current Egg-sitting workgroup into the Foraging workgroup...something about a shut-down of the project; I'm not sure. Anyway, she's off the nest. Too bad! Greg and I were both looking forward to chicks.