Brahmas. Day 526.

According to Wikipedia, Brahma is the “God of Creation” or “Creator of the Universe.” We’ve all heard of the Brahma Bull, too, but in my life, the word means a very sweet, very big, chicken, and we have two.

Both hens get along with others and are quite docile. That is, unless there’s a baby around. They make great mamas, too.

Our Brahma hens are: Anna and Elsa. Elsa has bright white feathers and Anna has buff, or tan. They each have feathered feet and weigh about twelve pounds or so. One year, Anna became broody, which means she wanted to be a mama. We gave her some eggs to sit on and a few weeks later, Mr. Jarndyce appeared. This year, we hope the same thing happens.

Brahmas are known for their love of broodiness. We purchased some ceramic eggs a few weeks ago and put them in their nesting boxes, and now we hope. Elsa has been spending more time in her nesting box, and today, Anna was, too.

Once we’re certain they want to be broody, we will give them fertilized eggs to sit on. All we have to do is place them in front of the hen and she will gently roll it under her so her belly keeps them warm. She will sit for about twenty-one days, only getting up once or twice a day to eat or drink.

I will always remember Sammy running into our Wolcott house nodding and smiling. “Swear to God,” he said. We had been waiting, so we ran outside and saw the tiniest baby chicken. I was reading Bleak House, a Charles Dickens novel at the time, so we named her Mr. Jarndyce, after a kind and noble character. (She lays blue eggs.)

Becky (RIP) is Mr. J’s biological mother, but they don’t realize that. Anna raised her. So, we hope this year will bless us with more babies, hopefully not roosters, but we’ll love them just the same. Cross your fingers for us!