Broody Brenda and Our First Broody Hatch

Little miss broody pants.

Oh Brenda.  Brenda is one of the "new girls" from this spring. She is a Tetra Tint. Many people have never heard of this breed before. Tetra Tints are a cross between a Rhode Island red male and a white leghorn female. They are produced by Mt. Healthy Hatcheries and sold to Tractor Supply stores. (I'm a sucker for the chick bin at TSC)

Bojangles says hello.

I purchased 2 Tetra Tints a few years ago when I was just starting out with chickens. Bojangles and Henrietta were my first two Tetras. They have THE most personailty and friendly demenor of all my hens. They both lay some of the largest white eggs that I have ever seen. They are very regular layers and it is rare for them to take a day off. 

This is Bojangles going for a ride with my little Miss.
Bojangles also enjoys the swing and the slide.

Large white eggs from Bojangles & Henrietta

This particular egg weighed in at 94.4 g.

I loved these Tetras so much that I wanted to get a couple more. Enter Brenda and White Bird. They are a little over 6 months old now and I was surprised when I got my first eggs from them . They were a creamy 'tinted' beige color. From what I've read this is what color eggs Tetras are supposed to lay so I'm not quite sure why Henrietta and Bojangles lay bright white eggs. But anywho, back to Brenda.

Brenda giving me the eye.

Brenda decided that she wanted to have some babies. She did not discuss this with me at all. She took it upon herself to take up residence in the most popular nesting box and sit, and sit, and sit some more.  I've never had a "real" broody hen before. I had a Buff Orpington named Cheepie who sometimes would pretend to be broody but if I too the eggs away from her she would give up and go back to her regularly scheduled chicken business.  Not Brenda. Brenda started brooding the last week of August. I continued to remove eggs from her each day yet she remained persistent and held her ground. 

Cheepie, our pretend/part-time broody.

So I decided to allow Brenda to keep a few eggs from Mr. Roo's favorite girls and let her try to hatch them (Mr. Roo has since been relocated to Bean Acres where he can crow his little heart out without breaking any city rules.  He was the most awesome quiet rooster until he found his voice. Then he had to hit the road.)

Mr. Roo

I gave Brenda 7 eggs to start with. We candled after a week and kept the 4 that were developing.

At some point around 2 weeks incubation, one of the developing eggs was either accidentally broken or intentionally eaten by another hen. All that remained of that egg was the broken shell. I believe that it may have been due to the fact that Brenda had company.

Move over Brenda. Henrietta wants to join the broody party too.

On 9/20 we found the first chick hatched with Henrietta sitting on the nest. Brenda had moved over to continue being broody on the nest next door. 

Hello little one!

Welcome to the world little ones!

Everyone has been trying to sneak a peek at the new babies.

Brenda & Henrietta sharing mothering duties of the little ones.

Its so interesting to watch them all together. Broody Brenda is still diligently sitting on another set of eggs but will hop off the nest and help Henrietta care for the babies if she senses any danger (like me, trying to take pictures...) 

Until next time friends, 

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