Brahmas are good brooders.
That is what the internet said about these hens. It did not put me off the breed, because why shouldn't they hatch a couple of chicks in the spring? It turned out, though, that the trait is not quite as endearing when every two or three months of laying are followed by just as long a spell of brooding, that is, sitting on an empty nest. Add the moulting season on top of that and there are practically no eggs at all.
So I have 3 big, handsome hens and still have to buy my eggs from the shop. They cluck in chorus and refuse to leave the nest. The rooster walks around the run on his own, bored. The first time, after a while, I lifted them out of the nests by force and closed the nests off. Ten days or so later (in January) I found the first egg in the hay. I opened two nests, and another ten days later we were up to 2 or 3 eggs a day.
When they started brooding again in March, closing the nests no longer helped. They settled straight into the straw and carried on clucking...
