Broody Scarlett.

That's the term for a hen who just wants to sit in the nesting box on the eggs--- a broody hen. And that's exactly what Scarlett has turned into this past week. I managed to get underneath her early yesterday morning to get the egg out from under her-- and I was amazed beyond words to see that it wasn't even her own egg. Scarlett lays brown eggs; the egg she had been sitting on for two days was a pale blue/green egg, which is Audrey's. And that amazed me also because Audrey didn't lay any eggs at all last year, and now she has been building up to laying real hard-shelled eggs about twice a week. Her first attempts were soft Jell-O consistency eggs that we threw away. Her last three eggs have been perfect enough (and hard-shelled) to keep.

Scarlett wasn't too happy yesterday when I set out to get that egg from her. I was going to just let her be, but the chicken books and the Internet articles that I read all recommended that she needed to be parted with the eggs (unless they were fertilized and we wanted her to hatch baby chick-- no to both). So there I was in the coop yesterday morning, wearing a heavy jacket of mine, heavy ski-gloves of my husband's, and I had a thick plush feather-dusting type of thing with a wooden handle in my right hand and a plastic scoop in the other hand. I know that chickens don't have teeth to bite, but their beaks can give you a nasty pecking followed by a black and blue mark.

I took the feather-dusting thing and stroked Scarlett on her back a few times, all the while talking to her and telling her that she was the most beautiful red hen in the coop. (I neglected to tell her that she was the only red hen in the coop, and I resisted telling her what a royal pain she was lately.) When Scarlett seemed to be soothed enough, I put the feather duster right underneath her and just lifted her up with it. As my right hand was doing that, my left hand went underneath her with the scoop and I was able to get the egg on the first try. As soon as I saw the blue/green shelled egg, I said out loud Scarlett! This isn't even your own egg! When I got back in the house, I checked the book again and it did say that a broody hen will hatch any and all eggs, no matter which hen laid them.

Scarlett wasn't too happy with me once she realized that egg was gone. After I set her back down into the nesting box, she could feel right away that nothing was underneath her, and she let out a few little coo-ing sounds that sounded very sad. Everything I read said that unfertilized eggs needed to be taken away from the hens or else they would get into the habit of spending more time in the nesting box than out of it. Scarlett flew down from the nesting box within half an hour and spent time with the other hens, walking around the yards and searching for bugs and worms.

This morning, Scarlett was back in the nesting box..... I checked twice, but she isn't sitting on an egg. The other three have laid eggs today (even Audrey-- that hen is on an egg-laying roll lately). Before I lock up the coop tonight, I will go in there with the fluffy feather duster and pet Scarlett's feathers and tell her how beautiful she is, and lift her up so I can see if she is indeed sitting on her own egg this time.

Needless to say, that feather duster will never again see the inside of the house.