Conchita's gone broody

Conchita in the nesting box

That doesn't mean she's temperamental. Broody means that she wants to hatch her eggs. After only about a month of laying, Conchita has gone broody. I thought this was something that happened after about a year, or in the springtime. I guess I have some reading up to do.

As soon as they leave their dog pen in the morning (El Jefe's still working on the coop), she wants to get in the nesting box and she wants to stay there all day. We keep removing her and sending her off with the others, but she keeps returning. I'm just not ready for baby chicks − I'm still trying to figure out what to do with the ones we have.

We are getting two eggs per day, but we haven't figured out for certain who is giving us the other egg. We think it is Carmen, but she doesn't use the nesting box. Luckily she found a safe spot where we can find the egg every day. Her egg is a little smaller and whiter, not cream colored like Conchita's eggs.

We don't know what is up with Ramona. Either she isn't laying yet, or she has a hiding spot we don't know about. Yuck! I hate to think about a pile of rotten eggs laying somewhere. She is a little smaller than her sisters, so maybe she just isn't ready yet.