If your hen is dedicated to sitting on that nest then she is probably broody....Why don't you try to get a few fertile
eggs to put under her if you are interested in a few more...The small egg was probably from your pullet...I don't know why but every now and then they do that tiny egg thing...

She certainly sounds broody to me! I'm not quite sure what you mean by wild chickens... do they have a safe place to roost at night or are they too wild even for that? The broody hen will be at risk from predators if she has her nest on the ground in the open. And yes, she will try to hatch golf balls.

You could put some kind of cage over her to protect her from predators. It would need to have hardware cloth or fine welded wire to be secure and it would need to be heavy enough to keep the predators from tipping it over. Of course you would have to let her out once or twice a day but you could put food and water inside for her. A roof would be nice to keep off the rain.

If you do not have a rooster and cannot get fertile eggs for her, you could get a few day-old chicks in a couple of weeks and slip them under her at night. She will be a proud mama in the morning. It doesn't always work but apparently it often does.

You can also decide to do nothing. If you remove the golf balls and take any eggs that she manages to get under her, she may well give up after a week or two. The other hens may try to lay in her nest when she is off it or so near to her that she can tuck the eggs under her.

I agree that the tiny pullet egg is nothing to worry about. I had one once and decided it was so cute that I blew out the cintents and saved the shell. There was almost no yolk at all. Many people used to believe that these were rooster eggs... Funny the ideas people get about things like that.

Thanks so much for the response back. It has really relieved my mind. When I say wild they are game chickens. that were allowed to pretty much run wild in the woods until they were given to me. they are smaller and scrawnier then other breeds.And can run like the road runner!!! My one buff orphington(the pullet) is three times their size and really bosses them around, which surprises me that they let her because I think they are really meaner then she is, but are used to defering to the bigger chicken, I guess. I have been told that if you put a game roo in with a bigger breed of roo that the game roo will kill him before the night is out. My brother in law learned this the hard way I am afraid.

At first I had them roosting in the house that my buff was in but when the cold weather came they managed to make it into a tree and have roosted thier ever since. Thats one reason I thought it so weird that she would stop flying with her girl friends into the tree at nite. So far I haven't had a problem with predators. I have a wonderful dog, that I think is helping with that problem and has taken it upon her self to be their protector.

I had thought of blowing out the inside of the tiny egg also. Course it would just be one more thing to dust LOL.

thanks again for all the info. I think I will take up the golf balls. I put them down at first to encourage them to nest in the areas I wanted them to nest in. I really didn't know what to expect with wild hens. Looks like it worked too well LOL. They have a pretty good sized egg though. way bigger then my buff pullets eggs.

see you all soon

CI

I agree with what everyone else has said... :) Sounds like you've got yerself a broody!

It's Spring, and my chickens are getting all hyped up with egg laying and going broody now, too. I think that having a roo around just aggravates the problem, but doesn't CAUSE it. *L* He certainly eggs them on, no pun intended....

Sounds like your pullet is simply working out the kinks in her egg laying machinery, as she matures she'll kick it into high gear, never fear! Either that or some other wild bird has discovered the broody and is putting her to work. :) You will need to check under her for eggs several times a day, remove them ASAP so as not to encourage her.

I've got my chicken info page up and running, if you click on this link it will take you directly to the 'eggs-hens-broodies-chicks' page, there are some pictures of some broodies there, see if they look like yours.

http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChickHensBroodiesChicks.htm

Velvet ~:>

Velvet, I love the pictures of your flock! You have a bunch of frizzles - they are absolutely adorable! Did you hatch those yourself or did you get them from a hatchery? Is it true that only 1 out of 4 frizzle?

does a chicken that goes broody stop laying??

CI

You betcha!

I've got a "wild" group also. From the pictures on featherside.com they are Phoenix. They have been out of their pen and on the loose for a while now. One of the little hens is broody and she was going through the pet door on the overhead garage door and laying eggs in the bottom of my husband's tool chest. We removed the drills, grinders, etc., cleaned up the egg mess and put down straw. Late last Thursday night (when she started staying on the nest full time) we switched the eggs out with some "normal" fertile eggs. When the time comes we are going to put a cage in front of the tool chest so the chicks will be safe from our dogs and cats until we can move them to the brooder pen. We don't worry about the safety of the hen for now, she's MEAN. This little group is definately different than your normal chicken, but the hens are excellent mothers.

amiz, I hatched my own Frizzles... :) Right now I have 5 Frizzles--one buff Frizzle/cochin mix, two white with black spangles, one buff with black tail and one brown/black, all Frizzle/MilleFleur mixes. Those birds also have sisters that carry the Frizzle gene but are smooth feathered. We have a bunch of eggs in the 'bator right now due to hatch just before Easter that are the offspring of some of these, it will be interesting to see who frizzles and who doesn't. :) Nothing much cuter than a Frizzle chick!

Velvet ~:>

Hi Velvet, would you be willing to sell some of your frizzle mix eggs? If you wouldn't mind, please email me your prices - Charlcat@aol.com.

Thanks,
Audrey

Audrey, I emailed you just now, sorry I missed it before, iVillage keeps crashing my browser....*ggrrrrrr*

I realized I forgot to include a link to my website where the chick pix are, here it is:

http://home.earthlink.net/~velvetsparrow/VSChick.htm

The one to click to see the entire flock is 'Meet My Flock', but right now I'm still uploading the pics so it isn't working. The other pages have some pictures of the girls here and there right now, though. The 'Meet My Flock' page will be done by the end of the week. :)

No charge for the eggs, just postage. I do want pics of the chicks you hatch and of them all grown up, though! :)

Velvet ~:>

Hi Velvet,

I think our emails are getting lost in cyberspace because I never received one from you and I don't know whether you got mine from yesterday sent directly to your email. I'm dying for some eggs!!

Audrey

Audrey, I think you are right! I got your emails, don't know why you aren't getting mine...anyway, here is the email I sent you:

***********

Hi Audrey:

The fee will be baby chick pix and more when they grow up...I'd love to see what the babies look like, and since I can't really tell which banties are laying which eggs, you'll have to sift through the chicks and pick yer Frizzles. *L*

Since you didn't get the last email, I'm going to copy the body of it here--I made a list of which hens are laying, Frizzles, cochins and Silkies. If you change your mind and decide not to get the eggs because of having to decide which babies to keep (always a tough decision!), let me know. Frizzles you can tell at one week old, the developing primary flight feathers on their wings and their tail feathers have a very distinctive curl. :)

Velvet ~:>
****************SEE BELOW*******
Hi Audrey!

Sorry, I must have missed the thread! iVilliage and my computer do NOT get along, it tends to crash my comp alot.

Sure, I'd be glad to get some Frizzle mix eggs to you! No charge for the eggs, just postage and maybe a little for packing materials if needed is OK. Let me know how many you want and I'll get a postage quote to you. :) Since my birds all run together, I can't tell which banty hen is laying which egg (but my MF/Frizzle banty roo, Scott is mating them all), but right now the banties in lay are:

All of these carry the Frizzle gene, even if they are smooth feathered:
All of these girls are sisters, have a full Frizzle parent:
2 White (Frizzle feathered) Frizzle/MilleFleur mix hens, Ping and Pong
1 buff (Frizzle feathered) Frizzle/MF mix hen, Fran
1 black and brown (Frizzle feathered) Frizzle/MF mix hen, Zevon
1 Buff (smooth feathered) Frizzle/MF mix hen, Ginger
1 black & gold (smooth feathered) Frizzle/MF mix hen, Meg
1 black & brown (smoth feathered) Frizzle/MF mix hen, Splash

These girls are also sisters, have a full Frizzle grandparent & 1/2 Frizzle parent:
1 black w/brown cape (smooth feathered) Frizzle/MF/Dark Indian Cornish Rock mix hen, Guinness
1 tan (smooth feathered) Frizzle/MF/Dark Indian Cornish Rock mix hen, Harp
1 black (smooth feathered) Frizzle/MF/Dark Indian Cornish Rock mix hen, Picky

Also laying banty eggs, no Frizzle genes in the hens but my banty roo mating them (Scott) is a MF/Frizzle mix:
1 silver-gray hen, Silver
1 MilleFleur hen, Millie
1 blue Silkie hen, Blue
1 black Silkie hen, Coal
1 black cochin hen, Rita
1 gray cochin/Americaunas hen, Skitters
1 Dark Indian Cornish Rock hen, Gwen
1 tiny black hen, Juliette
1 partridge cochin, Boots
1 Bantam hen with gray and white barred feathers (NOT a Barred Rock though), Houdini

I have been putting pics of my flock up on my website, so you can see what each one looks like by name and how they are related (if they are) to each other. I try to avoid inbreeding, so I will be very careful of that. If the pics aren't complete today, they will be by the end of the week. :)

Velvet ~:>
***************************

OH MY GOD!!! How could I possibly choose???!!! That is wonderful - I'll take 2 dozen please! Thank you! Would you like me to send you a money order first? If so, just let me know how much for packing and shipping. Of course, you probably don't want your address broadcast over the internet and for some reason I don't get your emails but you can try again Charlcat@aol.com and see what happens.

Thanks again!
Audrey

*LOL* Audrey, you got it! I'll start setting aside banty eggs tonight (I get about 4-6 a day) so they'll be as fresh as possible and I'll get together a shipping amount by the end of the week. I'll email you again, but sometimes AOL has problems blocking things it shouldn't...check your spam folder and bulk mail folders, and your email settings. :)

If I can catch a specific hen laying an egg and I'm certain who is mama, I'll write her name in pencil on the egg. *G*

If you want any Americaunas Polish/Americaunas mix or Black Jersey Giant/Americaunas mix eggs too, let me know--those I KNOW who is laying which egg, since they are different colors...Bear (Americaunas/RIR mix hen) lays army green eggs, Beast (Bear's daughter, Americaunas/RIR/Barred Rock mix hen) robin's egg blue, Louise (Americaunas) light blue, Poof (WCB Polish) white, Sugar (Buff Laced Polish) white and Elizabeth (Jersey Giant) large dark brown. The roo mating these girls is Phoenix, a Barred Rock/Americaunas mix. Except for Beast, she and Scott my MF mix roo are having a passionate love affair and she thinks he is the cat's meow. :)

Come to think of it, I'm going to mark on my webpage on the 'Meet My Flock' page who is in lay and who isn't. :)

Velvet ~:>

I'll take a few from the Americauna/Polish mix eggs please with a side of fries and a diet coke! This is too funny! I checked my email filters and hopefully I've rectified the problem. If you will, post on the thread when you've emailed me and I'll let you know if I never received it. Thank you again!
Audrey

OK! :) I don't know if the Polish ladies have been 'discovered' by the fellas yet, but the Americaunas certainly have! And if the Polish girls are still...um...boyfriend-less, it's not through lack of advertising. Those girls crouch when WE walk by! *L*

I'm going to test the email right now, let me know if you don't get it.

Velvet ~:>

Crud, still no email. I don't know what's going on.

OK--well, the eggs will be shipped on Monday, since I don't want them to sit in some freezing post office over the weekend. :) Since I have your snail mail address, I can go ahead. I'll just mark the shipping cost on a note inside the box along with my home address and you can send it to me once you get the eggs. If I'm sure which egg came from which hen I'll write her name in pencil on the egg. :)

I'll send along info on how to place the eggs to 'settle out' and for how long before you place them in the incubator. They'll be arriving by USPS, so keep an eye out for them around Wednesday, I'd guess. :)

Velvet ~:>

Thank you Velvet! I promise I will send you a money order as soon as I get the eggs. Thank you so much!!

OK! :) I'll post a message on the Farm Forum when they ship.

Velvet ~:>

Audrey, please check the Farm Forum, I started a new thread under your name!

Velvet ~:>