Relaxed Farming - our farm in your classroom

Another fun day with the poultry. Our lovely golden bantam is broody once again - she was broody for much of January/February when we did not want to start any hatching, but as spring is now upon us (more or less), now is fine to begin. We have given her five of our own eggs, all large ones because any of the resulting chicks that we don't sell, we will then rear for meat. As we have a variety of hens and currently three different cockerels, the chicks should be a delightfully unknown mix of colours and types.
The bantam settled beautifully on the eggs (we gave them to her last night) but at one point today, she left them in favour of a small egg one of the other bantams had laid in the nest box next to her. She is in the barn in the winter poultry area, not ideal, as we will need to encourage her to go back to the summer paddock each day for food and drink. If we put food and drink in the barn with her, this may encourage other birds to come in as well which we don't want. The bantam is quite an independent and self sufficient bird mind you, so with any luck she will sort things out for herself. We will keep a close eye on her to make sure she is getting enough food as if not, she will lose condition very quickly.
Victoria (second photo taken yesterday) did not lay today, the effort of finding somewhere yesterday obviously proved too much. We have still got two turkey eggs in the compost heap from two of the others though. And 'almost broody' Napoleana decided to leave her turkey eggs and sit on the duck eggs instead, adding one of her own turkey eggs to the collection This left Orange to lay her duck egg in the turkey egg nest, which she duly did...
We do hope both birds become fully broody and start sitting properly on the right eggs very soon!!! If not, we shall have to have words!!!