Birds on the nest

Two of my Barnevelder chooks have gone broody and have been sitting side-by-side on the nest since last week, looking very serious indeed.

This would be unremarkable for most hens, but it's the first time my Barnevelders have sat on eggs for more than a few days. They have been bred not to be broody... a trait that is for the most part good when you want chooks for eggs or meat. For many poultry keepers a broody hen is pest. But I'd love to have a batch of chicks that we have not had to incubate ourselves, so I am letting them sit. We have a huge oversupply of eggs at the moment anyway. However, I am not counting any chicks before they are hatched. The two Australorp girls in our little flock have both sat on eggs for a few days before giving up on the idea. If you are wondering what that hen is sitting behind, they are pipes underneath the sink in the luxury pickers hut that is our chook shed! The girls like to lay eggs under the kitchen sink.

Meanwhile, the first chicks this season from "our" welcome swallows have fledged, but still return at night to perch in the rafters on our balcony. Or, as they have done tonight, back in the nest, even though they are now too big to fit! They are so cute. The swallows showed up early this year, unlike last year, so we are hopeful they will have at least one more batch of chicks before summer is over.