When we bought some new chickens late last year, two of them were game hens. Well, apparently they’re good setters, because we’ve now had a second one go broody (here was the chick from the first hen); and the Lord graciously granted some new chicks to be hatched!
And here they are:
This is something of a big deal to us, because, in our desire to separate unto God and His direct providence, if we’re to have animals and their products, we need them to perpetuate; and having chickens that do that has been spotty at best, because most of the ones we’ve had don’t sit.
And so, we are thankful to the Lord for His granting of these new chicks and hens that are good setters; and we pray the female chicks pick up the sitting trait so they can continue to propagate here on the farm, according to God’s will.
— David
Game hens are almost always broody. In my experience they do not fare as well brooding in a cage though. We always let ours run the yard till they hatched, then caught them. If you can find their nest, then you can add eggs from less broody hens before they start setting. Most egg layers are bred to not go broody since it reduces egg production, but if you keep game hens too they provide a great natural incubator. If you separate the bitties form the hen after a month or so, when they have fully fledged, the hen will often start another nest. You can separate them earlier, but I think the time with their mother teaches them how to avoid danger and forage more efficiently.
Hi David G,
Thanks much for your insight and information. Actually, this one got broody in the coup of our main chicken tractor; and, like you suggested, we added eggs there, for a few days. After she had hatched a couple, we moved her, the chicks, and the eggs to the cage and makeshift pen, where she hatched out the rest.
One evening a couple of nights ago, when we were putting up our animals, our other game hen was missing; and we found her in the barn, on eggs again, about a month and a half after she had hatched out a chick (similar to how quickly you suggested games hens get broody again).
We do appreciate you commenting with your expertise!
— David
Dear David and Susan,
I enjoy your blog…it makes me think upon so many things.
I have a question that I would like to ask, I hope you haven't answered it somewhere else and I missed it, so I will apologize in advance for that.
I understand about being separate from the world and living in close proximity to other like minded Christians, but do you believe that an agrarian lifestyle is truly the only pleasing choice for our Lord? (I don't ask this question in a negative fashion…it is often so hard to tell over the Internet.)
I ask this question because it occurs to me that in order to live this lifestyle you must use the services of so many people that have chosen another path…i.e. the logger who felled the trees, the mill worker who milled the lumber, the trucker who drove the lumber to Home Depot, the workers who stocked and sold you the lumber, the factory worker where the fencing is made, the oil field worker who extracted the oil to make the many plastic plumbing parts for your various water catch systems…I could go on and on but I am sure you get the idea.
It also seems to me that we show God's love in the way we bless others by using their services and products (after asking for God's direction), thereby allowing God's provision into their lives as well as ours.
If everyone lived the agrarian lifestyle…who would go to college to become the veterinarian, who would work at the factory to make the canning jars so that the bounty of the harvest can be preserved?
I guess that I asked two questions! I hope you are not offended as these have been asked with the sincerest heart.
Lots of ponderin' here on our little homestead…
Yours sincerely,
Shan
Honey Hill Farm
Dearest David and Susan,
I sent an earlier comment and I truly pray I did not offend you in anyway. I think it is hard to communicate kindness and sincerity with the written word.
Your blog and faith have been a source of much dialog here in my home…all in a very positive way, I might add.
I see that there are some other folks in your community that have blogs too, I will have to read them so that I may be able to understand your beliefs a little bit better.
Please don't feel that you have to answer my previous questions…I may have been too forward with them.
Yours truly,
Shan
Honey Hill Farm
Hi Shan,
No offense taken whatsoever, and thank you for saying hello. I hadn't posted your comment earlier because I usually like to post my response at the same time, but I suppose that can be confusing. Also, I do want to respond; but it takes me a little sometimes to write a response of this nature; so please bear with me as it may take a little for me to put it together.
I thank you for the questions, and look forward to replying soon, Lord willing.
— David
Hi Shan,
I believe we have to step back and look at things over time, not just how things look around us right now. Things haven't always been as they are now: 200 years ago, all of the interactions with the world you mention wouldn't have even existed; and so, people lived without them for centuries and centuries. So, there *is* another way to live that doesn't involve the way people live today.
Let's look at the root of the two systems of living, agrarianism and industrialism. God started agrarianism for man in the beginning, and the Bible is written based on that system. Today's system, which is primarily and industrial-based system, was invented by man, and, whether knowingly or not, in direct opposition to the God-given theology, providential foundation, and worldview of agrarianism.
And so, I believe an agrarian way of live is biblically prescribed and the godly way of live.
Now, while we are using intermediate mean to achieve an end right now (eg. going to Home Depot), our motivations and actions are to get us to where we are separated from even those things. Plus, since we have basically lost all ability to do things without industrial help (eg. building our own house out of trees off the land, etc.), we're going to HomeDepot at this time; however, that doesn't mean we aren't striving for regaining those skills. And how we bless others needs to be under the proper premise of living before I believe it should be considered correct (ie. am I really helping people by helping them stay a part of an ungodly system, and should I purposely be a part of that ungodly system to accomplish that?). Do we really need today's worldly and ungodly colleges for someone to learn the veternary arts? Do we need industrial factories to make glass jars? Do we need canning jars to preserve?
The above is a somewhat brief answer to a much larger discussion. In case you haven't seen them, I have a couple of small blog posts on this:
David's Digest: There IS Another Way
David's Digest: Quick Quiz
Here are a couple more links to read:
Agrarianism vs. Urbanism
Towards a Biblical/Agrarian Culture
And here is the larger audio study of which these last two links are a part:
Underground Church Class
Finally, if you haven't read it, Mr. Bunker's book "Surviving Off Off Grid" is an excellent in-depth study of all of this; and I would highly recommend it.
Please let me know if you have any other questions, or would like to discuss this further.
Thanks,
— David
Dearest David and Susan,
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions!
We have had many long talks around the dinner table ever since I read and shared your agrarian Christian beliefs with my loved ones.
I will indeed take the time to read the various links you have posted…I am very inspired by what I have read here about your faith and community.
Yours truly,
Shan
Honey Hill Farm