I have had a feeling over the last few days that Smoke was about to go broody. She has laid nineteen eggs in twenty eight days. Smoke often lays three days in a row then misses a day then another three days in a row.
This morning she was in the nest box after already laying three days in a row. Later she was joined by Flame. Flame has been laying every other day and has laid four eggs so far. Flame’s and Smoke’s eggs are usually side by side as they both like the same nest box.
When I checked a little later Flame was just coming out of the nest box. I lifted the lid and no egg was in sight. I then lifted Smoke and there was Flame’s egg. Smoke had snaffled it underneath herself.
A little later I lifted Smoke out for a break. She sat for a minute in the usual broody pose.
Smoke has done well to lay nineteen eggs before going broody. As the season goes on she will lay less eggs between broody spells if last year is anything to go by.
Meanwhile Ebony laid eight eggs and now hasn’t laid for a week. She is looking a bit tatty so I think that she is moulting in stages.
Marmite has recently been quite vocal so I think that she will be the next girl to start laying. Without Smoke we now have only Flame laying for the moment. We had just started to get more eggs and now they have fallen back again. Oh well, lets hope Marmite starts laying soon.
By the end of the day Smoke had laid another egg making it twenty eggs in twenty eight days and four days in a row. Smoke often lays one last egg at the start of being broody.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
I wonder if blue seramas are more broody as my blue serama seemed to be constantly broody?!
xx
It is interesting isn’t it? Smoke was in the nest box at bedtime so I had to move her to the shed. I had to quickly move my torch as she tried to get to the shed door determined to go back out to the nest box. I put her back on the perch and switched my torch off quickly. xx
So broody time starts again, but 20 eggs in 28 days, must be nice.
20 eggs in 28 days is amazing. Smoke is our best layer but the pay off of that is that she is also the most broody.
You reach the stage where you count the days when you dont have a broody! None here just at the moment, but Blackie has decided to moult with a vengeance. Sad news: lost Ginger at the weekend, to Marek’s disease: she simply could not use her legs, although she had been laying following her moult. She was the last remaining of the 7 chicks Cotton had in 2018. Odd – but the old lady, now 7 years old, still goes strong.
I know what you mean about broodies. Odd how they moult at different times too. So sorry to hear about Ginger.