The way to a hen’s heart is through her beak. Which is why roosters spend much of their time looking for good things for the hens to eat. When they find delectable morsels, they let the hens know, and the hens come running. Old Billy, six years old now, still knows how to romance the hens. He’s no longer king of the hill. Younger roosters have taken over that role. That hasn’t slowed old Billy down. He can turn on the charm and attract an audience.

Of the hundreds of millions of egg laying hens on farms just in the US, how many have a rooster to romance them? Romance and love and flirting and being coy and teasing and seeing who is making out with whom are just as important to chickens as it is to us. The next time you pick up some eggs, ask your grocer, “Do the hens who lay these eggs have a rooster they can flirt with?”

Does she glow? She just started sitting on a clutch of eggs. They should hatch July 5 or 6. She’s ensconced in one of the nurseries, safe to sit in peace, undisturbed, not having to worry about another hen wanting to lay an egg in her nest.

The trickiest part about using nurseries for the brooding hens, is moving them into a nursery once they go broody on a regular nest. I have to move them at night, when it is dark. After a night sitting on eggs in a quiet spot, the brooding hens seem to enjoy having so much peace and quiet for themselves.