“What are we on now, plan H?” I said to Larry out of frustration. With death of one of Micah’s chickens a few weeks ago, I was reminded that my big fat hens were not bred for the rough life out here in Gesas. Overall, they have done well, but the original plan was to breed them with strong local roosters and create a second generation with the best of both worlds. So, in February, Larry bought a rooster, named “Johnny” by Larry’s son, and all evidence points to Johnny doing a good job in “servicing” my hens these past few months. Well, my hens are doing a great job in laying eggs, however, fertilized eggs don’t hatch themselves. They need a warm, moist bo-hinee on top of them for about three weeks. My hens either don’t understand this, or they are so displeased with my care of them that they have all gone on strike. At one point, we had more than 75 eggs piled up in their laying areas, with no sitters. Scrambled eggs anyone?
So we have moved on to plan H – that is – “Habesha.” Habesha means “Ethiopian local” and is the opposite of Farenge, which means “foreigner.” Giving up on the farenge chickens ever fulfilling their mothering duty, I went to the local market and picked out three young habesha hens. The plan is that whenever a Habesha chicken lays an egg, I will replace it with one of my farenge chicken’s eggs with the hope that the Habesha chickens will eventually sit on and hatch them for me.
Now compared to my fat-bottomed girls, these new chicks are scrawny, but as long as their fannies can cover a few eggs for the 21 days required for a hatching…we could be in business. If they decide not to work for me, then the $2.50 I spent for each bird becomes an investment into our protein diet. To spur these girls onto good deeds, we have tried negative reinforcement in their naming. So without further ado – may I present to you:
Breakfast,
Lunch,
and Dinner.
Progress Report? Well, as of today, they have been with me for 11 days and their progress has varied. “Dinner” has not laid any eggs, yet she eats the food I give her. Believe me, her room and board bill is in the mail. “Lunch” laid her first egg on day 6 and has laid 4 eggs since then so that looks promising. However, “Breakfast” is definitely the top of her class. She laid a new egg 10 out of the 11 days since I bought her and she has built for herself a nice nesting area. As planned, every evening, after “Breakfast” went to bed, I nabbed her tiny habesha eggs and replaced them with my massive ones. Then, today, after laying her 10th egg, she started acting strange, spending much more time by her nest. I replaced the new egg and, sure enough, later this afternoon, Breakfast plopped herself down for what seems like good. We hope for the best, but we won’t know the results for another 21 days. Either way, it appears that plan H is at least getting us beyond where we have been before.
If this doesn’t work…what’s next? Well, plan “I” of course – that is “Incubation.”
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