After a rare week of no broodies I knew it couldn’t last. A few days ago Vanilla started laying again and just like last time, when she was taking the role of chick to Flame, it was twenty one days since her last egg and eight days after I broke her chick relationship with Flame.
On the same day Smoke went broody. It really does seem to be one in and one out. Smoke had laid twelve eggs in fifteen days. She had laid her last six eggs six days in a row and that always seems to spark her going broody again. She only ever lays for between one and two weeks before going broody. Smoke often lays one or two more eggs after she has started being broody which is what she has done this time too.
A few days later Flame started laying again. It had been fourteen days since she last laid and like last time she was playing at mothering Vanilla it had been twelve days since she broke out of it. It’s amazing how the timing is exactly the same. Once again I hadn’t really expected Flame to start laying again so soon as she had been moulting but like last time the feathers stopped dropping and she started laying.
Broody Smoke
Here is Smoke protesting after I got her out of the nest box to take a break. It’s slightly out of focus because she was quivering. We seem to be destined to have at least one broody all summer. Sigh!
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Happy days! I now have both Blackie and Lavande. The respite periods are rare and short!
The day after you said about the clucking Smoke started with the clucking and I knew it was coming again. As you say respite is short lived.
I think it’s worse this year because we’ve had a particularly hot summer. Mine weren’t half as bad last year! xx
You could be right. My past seramas have never been this broody. There again it’s Smoke and Vanilla that are most broody of all and this is their first summer of laying. xx
Shame, but a lovely picture of her.
It captures her anger. Her tail feathers are quite ragged so she will probably moult when she comes out of this.