Broody Brahma Hens
The hens went broody. I didn't expect it would happen so soon, but it did. Ruby was the first. She made her own nest in the "wild", outside the coop. She sat on eggs for 21 days, getting up just one time per day to eat, drink, poop and dust bath. She went on to hatch two eggs, but by the time I arrived the chicks were dead.
Grey Neck never went broody. She wanted Blondie to incubate her eggs and would lay in her nest. I didn't catch on to this for a few days until I noticed Blondie's clutch was increasing. The above two photos show two and then three hens in one nest box. An egg broke that day inside the nest. After Ruby's two dead chicks I made the final decision I didn't want to bother with chicks at this time. I took the eggs away from Blondie and had a heart to heart discussion with the hens to quit being broody. Oddly enough they listened to me and in the next few days returned to being active birds.
You may be wondering the names of the other two chickens. The other hen is Grey Neck, she never went broody. The rooster's name is simply Rooster.