Broody Hen!

A few weeks ago we lost Maisy the hen to a neighborhood dog. She's still a part of our yard; we buried her near the garden and my daughter brings her flowers regularly.

Yesterday the new top hen, Sylvie, went broody. This means she sits in the egg box and pretends to warm eggs. At first I was surprised and concerned. I bought breeds that usually don't go broody. But she's still a hen, and here she is, stuck in the box. We don't have any extra room, and only one egg box, so I wasn't sure at first what to do for the other hens. Then I got the urge to get fertile eggs and stick them under her to hatch. Feels like destiny, since we just lost our other hen.

At first I thought - that's CRAZY. The last thing I need is another responsibility. But this urge was nearly as strong as the urge to have a kid myself (which I'm not feeling right now...). So I asked hubby - would you object to my getting two fertile eggs? He said no he didn't object as long as I do all the work.

I' d have to find homes for them if either is a rooster. I will have to research what we have to do for the hen. We have to isolate her, hook up another waterer and feeder. Not sure how we're going to do this. But I figured out how to make a waterer with used plastic containers, and our neighbor offered us a wire cage a few weeks ago that we can line with cardboard. I found a guy on Craigslist with fertile eggs. So. We'll see what happens - I'll keep you posted.