The broody hen

Daffodil, the brown hen on the left, is a typical broody hen. Every spring she decides it's time to 'sit' on a nest of eggs and wait for them to hatch. Usually this means that she waits for the other hens to lay, say, 8 or 9 eggs between them in one place and then she firmly plonks herself down and says "I'm not moving". And there she sits for the next 21 days, which is the time it takes to hatch a chick. During that time she will get off the nest for very brief periods to stretch her wings, eat and preen - and whilst she's off the other hens may well come and add to it in the hope, no doubt, that Daffodil will do their job for them. She could end up sitting on as many as 20 eggs. This, of course, makes it all the more difficult when it comes to judging when and if all the eggs have finished hatching! But the broody hen always knows: she will not leave the nest - except under dire circumstances - until she's sure all the live eggs have hatched. Which means some early hatching chicks could be sitting under her, keeping snug and safe, for several days.

On the left you can see Daffodil with Solo and two Light Sussex hens, with their familiar ruff of black feathers. Daffodil, being a Sussex cross Rhode Island Red has a similar ruff of black feathers around her neck.