The Walden Effect: Farming, simple living, permaculture, and invention.

Broody barn hen

broody hen in the barn

We're still trying to encourage one of our hens to do the broody thing.

One of the ladies has been sitting in the barn near our straw bales, but she only seems half broody.

Maybe some soft music would help her relax enough to feel like she found a safe spot?



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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.



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I know little to nothing about chickens. Why biologically do they lay Eggs even unfertilized as when no rooster?

Just curious as it seems like a waste of effort unless the hen gets something out of normal would be an offspring.

Comment by Jim Tue Mar 19 23:48:17 2013
Jim --- There's an interesting (albeit long-winded) potential answer here: http://tubelite.wordpress.com/2011/01/05/why-do-hens-lay-unfertilized-eggs/
Comment by anna Wed Mar 20 07:39:27 2013

Anna, thanks interesting but I still do not see a logical why therein.

"artificial, human selection" is raised then quickly discounted. My money is still on such.

far more than the simpler chicken vs egg -which first? Few ponder why an egg with no fertilization.

A decoy unfertilized egg would be a logical possiblity if it contained some natural hen induced poision (why not?) as way to cull egg predators. Else eggs would only help to increase predator numbers.

Like Michael Pollan's notion that pigs have found great success and protection as a reward for being our food. Their lives may be short but they are wanted. So too do I conceive an early "hen" that errantly produced got fox/hawk protection. Post "A" fertilzation Farmer said "got keep those chicks"

Comment by Jim Thu Mar 21 16:46:04 2013





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