We have a broody - a few q's

[MrsCordial]

Great success at the hen place this morning - I got two little plastic cups that clip onto the side of the crate. goldie hasn't managed to dislodge those yet. She's now completely silent and just sitting.

I asked at the hen place about worming, and explained what I'd done before. The woman there said that as the hens have almost an acre to roam around (not to mention the choice of two other fields, into which they often wander), Verm-X was fine. If they were in a run it would be different, apparently. She suggested worming with Flubenvet just once a year (we haven't even had them a year and I've already used it once in an in-feed wormer) and running monthly Verm-X treatments, which is what I've been doing until I got bothered about the continual medicating a few weeks ago. The woman explained that Verm-X is herbal anyway so not to get too worried about giving it to them frequently. I'm seeing no sign of worms so i'm going to carry on as I have been and keep an eye on things.

[elizajay]

I had a hen who laid infertile eggs in ivy on top of a wall, half way up the wall and under the wall and under epimediums. She always abandoned the eggs when I moved her to safety, apart from once when I replaced with fertile eggs in a small cage in the same place. She hatched 2 lots of fertile eggs.

She got frightened in January snow and landed up living in a tree down the road for 6 weeks before we could catch her. She came home and after 2 nights with the others slept in a tree in our garden for the next few months before moving to the gardens behind and lived there for a few months until a fox got her when she was 5-6 years old.

Once she tasted freedom she was not willing to be confined. When she slept in our tree she pottered around with the other hens happily, so they accepted her. It may be your hen has a similar wild streak!

[MrsCordial]

Oh marvellous LOL! What a character. Shame the fox got her in the end.

Goldie stayed in chicken jail Friday afternoon til Tuesday afternoon, and after lulling us into a false sense of security by behaving normally for an hour or so (and having the mother and father of all dust baths) then buggered off back up the tree - aaargh. I didn't know how I was going to show my face back on here as there's no way we could get her down.

Later on though she reappeared and roosted normally with the other hens that night. Ever since she's been fine, though I do listen carefully to the noises she's making, just in case...

[Nicos]

Oh phew!...fingers crossed it's all over for her.
Just watch out if there is a sudden mild spell in the next few days...might just set her off again!