A Whole Lot Of Brooding Going On Around Here

There is a whole lot of brooding going on around here.Inside the dove cote in front of the house...

...doves are sitting on eggs. They've gone "broody", which "describes a hen's condition in the period during which she is intent on incubating her eggs and is often reluctant to move off the nest until they are hatched." 'CHICKENS' by Derek Hall

On the floor of the dove-cote there is some brooding going on too. See the stump in the top right part of the picture? Look closely...

...yes, there! Sitting oh so quietly and calmly, is a bantam frizzled cochin. She won't leave the eggs she is sitting on, rarely leaving to eat or drink. If I try to move her she seems catatonic, but if I take her too far away from the clutch of eggs she is sitting on she squawks and flaps fiercely in her attempt to be back on her eggs.

The other 2 bantam cochins, her sister and the rooster, leave her to the eggs. They know better than to disturb her. Smart chickens!

My midget white turkey hens are also sitting on eggs. They simply scratched a bowl shaped area of shavings out and laid their eggs. They won't move off their eggs either. I can walk around them, add feed & water to their pen, but they steadfastly sit,almost as if they are deaf and blind to anything but what is under them.Like the chickens and doves, they seem to be focused inward, oblivious to everything but the tending of their eggs.

In the bantam pen in the back of our home the story is the same. bantam hens striving with each other to sit on a clutch of eggs. Often the hens will steal eggs from each other by rolling them away from a nest mate and under their own feathered breasts.

These 4 ( FOUR! ) hens have decided to share the nest box. They sit together, day after day, keeping the eggs warm, turning them, and often gently, oh so gently, slyly sliding an egg out from under a nest mate, to warm it under their own breast.

Either way, the eggs are being incubated, and when hatched, will be tended faithfully. I will remove 3 of the hens just before hatching because I have had hens fight so fiercely over the chicks that the chicks end up being unintended victims as they try to get under the wings of their fighting mothers.

Meanwhile, back in the dove-cote, look what just hatched!

5 new bantam white cochin chicks, tended by a devoted mother.All this brooding going on around here is going to make for a lot more drama and entertainment on Cedar Pond! 

I hope any brooding around your home is productive, leading to righteous fruit and a happy home, and not hen fights! Remember, when hens fight, little chicks get hurt, and big chicks do too! "Let all be harmonious , sympathetic,brotherly, kindhearted,and humble in spirit; not returning evil for evil, insult for insult; but giving a blessing instead;....And who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good? But even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed." I Peter3: 8,9,13

Sometimes Mother's Day Hurts

Mother Hens Dora ( black) and Lucy ( red) protecting their chicks from me as I take pictures.These little tiny balls of yellow fluff are so cute,but it is easy for me to resist picking them up because as soon as I get too close to the chicks both mama hens fling themselves at me and squawk and scream , making a horrible racket. Though neither of these hens weigh more than a pound , they are scary when they attack me like that. Bantam hens are notoriously very good mamas . In Matthew and Luke Jesus compares Himself to a mother hen as He laments "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her ! How often I have wanted to gather your children together , just as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you would not have it !" What a blessing mothers are to so many, most mothers love their children more than words can adequately express, and strive to provide the very best for their children often with self-sacrifice.Most mothers would not think twice about saving their children from danger at the risk of their own lives. These little bantam hens react instantly to perceived danger to their chicks , and almost every danger to their chicks is easily able to dispatch a tiny, angry, protective hen. We live in a fallen and imperfect world. There are mothers who are not so loving, there are many who do not have a mother in their lives. Mother's Day can be a painful reminder to many they are unable to have children of their own, or that their beloved mother is dead. Some mothers mourn the loss of children, or estrangement from the children they love more than life itself.Sometimes Mother's Day just plain hurts. God in His wisdom knows this. He can take the hurts and loss and hold you tight. He loves you and your children more than any human mother ever could. "He will cover you with His pinions, And under His wings you may seek refuge;" Ps. 91:4 "Can a woman forget her nursing child, and have compassion on the son of her womb ? Even these may forget, but I will never forget you." Isaiah 49:15 ~

"Mother : An appellation given to a woman who exercises care and tenderness towards another, or gives parental advice ; " Webster Dictionary

-Thank-you Lord for the wonderful children you blessed me with, and most importantly, they claim You as Savior ! Thank-you for the 8 grandchildren You have given me through them. You are kind and merciful beyond what I deserve. Thank-you Lord for my husband who is also an amazing father , making it possible through great sacrifice for me to be able to stay home and raise our children, a choice I will never regret. Thank-you Lord for the mother you gave me.