Rigmar Wants Children

For almost three weeks now, Rigmar has sat in the nesting box.

At first I was concerned that she might be ill. But a quick call to the in house vet and a frantic email to her previous owner assured me that she was not in any physical danger or distress.

I was instructed that what she is doing is "brooding". She wants children. It's only natural. We all, (or most of us) want to have some children of our own. And I guess chickens are no different.

But she's pathetic now. When one of her friends lays an egg, she immediately goes and sits on it. "Maybe someone's eggs are fertile!"

I try to shoo her off the nest and get her to go outside, which she does but only grudgingly. Then, in a big huff and lots of clucking and noise, she races back to the coop, jumps inside and back in the nesting boxes.

The rest of the hens think she is crazy and are ignoring her. When she does get down briefly she puffs herself up to twice her original size and struts around making loud noises. The others think she's ostentatious and try to peck her so she's not so puffed up. They don't have the mother instincts yet.

But, what to do, what to do. I think she is really suffering. We take all the eggs each day and she is desperate. Maybe Mr. T., who reads this blog, can recommend something or can tell me where I might get a couple of fertilized eggs. Perhaps if she could hatch a baby or two she could revert back to her tender, quiet self.

But, maybe not. Children are sometimes more than we expect. They're cute and adorable as infants. Sometimes they're messy and sometimes demanding. They need to be taught manners and rules of home life. But they're certainly fun...and loving...and inquisitive...and imaginative....and complicated....and....
absolutely lovely.

I think that is so in the chicken world too. There is a certain order to their living out there in the barn. A pecking order, so to speak. So if Rigmar ever gets to hatch a chick or two, we'll see how she handles motherhood.