Finally two weeks ago we had a hen go broody. �She sat on 16 eggs only getting off the nest for a brief drink and bite to eat once a day for those two weeks. �She was my biggest Australorp. �
I went out this morning to clean up my outdoor Willys Recreation and Leisure Park. � I check her out every morning and she was doing fine. �Came back a while later, and there's a 6' TexasRat snake (commonly called a "Chicken Snake") constricting her at the same time as he's got his mouth stretched over an egg. �I saw she was still alive and I shot the the snake behind the head. She jumped out of the nesting box and there were only 4 eggs left, one she accidentally kicked out when she jumped and it busted on the ground with a full chick inside. � Took the other three and put them in a homemade incubator I had just made, including the one the snake let go of. �Hopefully they'll hatch in about a week. �Came back out to inspect her, and it turns out I clipped half her beak off with the shot. �I was heartbroken, our only broody hen, we've been checking on her many times a day over the past two weeks and sort became attached. �Thought it over for a minute, then decided to end her pain. �Besides the beak issue, the snake really roughed her up.
Crappy way to start the day. � This why the old man always kept Guineas too, they're great for fending off snakes.
