The Hen That Has It All

Much has been going on this summer, but I haven't had time or energy to keep up with posting, as usual. This year we haven't been working on so many big, visible projects but more on a large number of little things like perfecting our pasture rotation and modifying the fence, plus experimenting with free ranging hens with their hatched chicks (and what type of shelters would be best for that).

So on to the big news! My best hen, Dina, has just hatched five chicks. That's no record, especially if you've heard how many bantams can hatch, but it's the most we've gotten from any of the Dark Cornish hens. I've started each of the Dark Cornish with six eggs, which seems to be about the number they can adequately cover, but inevitably a few would be lost on the way, either the egg didn't develop, or in some cases they just didn't make it through hatching. Every time we've ended up with four chicks, but Dina managed to get five hatched. It's also exciting because now I refer to Dina as the hen that "has it all"... she's good looking, large, great personality, and also broody! She was the very last hen to go broody and I was convinced she wouldn't. Because one of our goals is sustainability we wanted our hens to have that instinct.

We did not do trap nests this year (catching the hen when she goes in to lay an egg so you can verify which eggs come from which hen) but I strongly suspect a few of the older chicks hatched under our hens are from Dina judging by appearance. In any event, the rooster we chose paired with our Dark Cornish hens have made some amazing birds - large and consistent, much more so than the "mail order" birds from the hatchery. It's made us believe even more in our direction of sustainability.