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- #11
I thought I'd post an update here - it's been a few days and we've had a few developments. The broody hen and I have come to a few compromises.
Early this week, I was gone for a few days. I left her be in the nest she has chosen with a few unfertilized eggs to keep her busy. I made a new nest box for the other hens to use, and I let it roll for three days. When I came back, she was still sitting on her nest, grumpy trance stare and all. I put her out in the run on Thursday morning so I could see how she behaved and get a look at her nest. The eggs in her nest were covered in a bit of yoke and there were more than when I left, so some of the hens still muscled their way in to lay next to her. It wasn't bad, though, as some chose to lay elsewhere. Not in my nicely crafted nest box, but a corner of the coop. Sigh. Anyway, Thursday morning she did her 15 minute routine or so and then came back in the coop and went to the nest. I left for the local farm that sells fertilized eggs and picked up six Crested Cream Legbar and four Olive egger eggs.
Friday morning, I went out and put her in the run, and when I got back into the coop, two other hens had taken that 1 minute opportunity to go into the coop and straight to her nest and settle in to lay. Seeing that, I just decided that I'm going to be too nervous to have her deal with the other hens and her nest. Given that while I was away, an egg was broken, I think I'd feel bummed if that happened while she was sitting on fertilized eggs. I totally get that she herself could cause some breakage, and there certainly are no guarantees, but, for this bunch, I think keeping her in the coop, but sheltered from the others will be the best bet now that I have more observations. So, I did some quick measuring and built a new panel that would cover the only open area I had left under the droppings boards. Late Friday afternoon, I put her out in the run again, installed my new panel and moved an existing one (so thankful - and lucky - that space is pretty modular) and fashioned an 8 foot long by 2 foot wide pen area for her. None of the other birds can get to her, but with it being open wire, her area is still visible to the rest of the flock. I made a feed and water station for her and also a short roost bar she can hop up onto if she wants. When she does her 15 minute routine in the run, it's usually eat, drink, hop up on roost bar and preen for a short bit, then back in. I thought if I could give her all of that in her space, it might be a good idea. With her out in the run, and everything quickly installed, I took out the unfertilized eggs, I put in the real, marked eggs, and then turned her nest box 90 degrees so she could enter it without having to squish her way in. With the addition of the last panel, it made getting into the nest box the way it was currently facing, a tight squeeze - if not impossible. By turning the box 90 degrees, it now faced the right way for the pen layout. Within about 30 seconds of me finishing it up, she was at the pop door and coming back in the coop. She right away saw there was a panel blocking the way to where her nest box was located. She wasn't too upset, but not happy either. I gently guided her through the door to the pen and got her to the edge of her nest box. She stayed there while I closed the door behind her, and then I left the coop for her to figure it out. Outside the coop, I could hear her pecking at the fence which I knew meant that she wasn't going in to her box yet. This went on for a couple minutes. I thought that maybe she couldn't see very well because it is dark under there. I went to get a small flashlight that I was going to shine in there so she could see the entrance and her eggs. But, when I opened the door to the coop, she had already figured it out herself and was back sitting on the eggs. Quite a relief.
That brings us to tonight, which is end of day one. I checked on her several times, and she was holding tight with the trance look. She hadn't touched her water or food that I could tell, so I'm thinking tomorrow if that's still the case, I'm going to need to put her in the run to do her thing. If it comes to that, I'd set her out there, then close her pen door so none of the other birds could get in there, then when she returns, open her pen door and let her go back in. Hopefully, she'll venture out on her own to her feed and water. Oh, taking the advice of others, her feed and water station are about 3-4 feet away from her nest box. With only 8 total feet to work with, it was the best compromise I could do in the 15 minutes I had to install everything. I've added pictures here at the bottom to give more detail and context to the setup.
Once again, thanks to everyone following along and offering advice. It's exciting to have "real" eggs under her now and know that tomorrow morning is "day 2". Long ways to go, for sure, but it has really started. I'm also seriously entertaining the idea that was suggested of watching for day old chicks in my area in case I need to supplement the hatch. My wife really wants a Buff Orpington and I'd like a Speckled Sussex, but I couldn't find those eggs around here and our time was limited. We'll just see how things shake out over these next weeks, but I think preparing for that possibility might be a good idea.
Early this week, I was gone for a few days. I left her be in the nest she has chosen with a few unfertilized eggs to keep her busy. I made a new nest box for the other hens to use, and I let it roll for three days. When I came back, she was still sitting on her nest, grumpy trance stare and all. I put her out in the run on Thursday morning so I could see how she behaved and get a look at her nest. The eggs in her nest were covered in a bit of yoke and there were more than when I left, so some of the hens still muscled their way in to lay next to her. It wasn't bad, though, as some chose to lay elsewhere. Not in my nicely crafted nest box, but a corner of the coop. Sigh. Anyway, Thursday morning she did her 15 minute routine or so and then came back in the coop and went to the nest. I left for the local farm that sells fertilized eggs and picked up six Crested Cream Legbar and four Olive egger eggs.
Friday morning, I went out and put her in the run, and when I got back into the coop, two other hens had taken that 1 minute opportunity to go into the coop and straight to her nest and settle in to lay. Seeing that, I just decided that I'm going to be too nervous to have her deal with the other hens and her nest. Given that while I was away, an egg was broken, I think I'd feel bummed if that happened while she was sitting on fertilized eggs. I totally get that she herself could cause some breakage, and there certainly are no guarantees, but, for this bunch, I think keeping her in the coop, but sheltered from the others will be the best bet now that I have more observations. So, I did some quick measuring and built a new panel that would cover the only open area I had left under the droppings boards. Late Friday afternoon, I put her out in the run again, installed my new panel and moved an existing one (so thankful - and lucky - that space is pretty modular) and fashioned an 8 foot long by 2 foot wide pen area for her. None of the other birds can get to her, but with it being open wire, her area is still visible to the rest of the flock. I made a feed and water station for her and also a short roost bar she can hop up onto if she wants. When she does her 15 minute routine in the run, it's usually eat, drink, hop up on roost bar and preen for a short bit, then back in. I thought if I could give her all of that in her space, it might be a good idea. With her out in the run, and everything quickly installed, I took out the unfertilized eggs, I put in the real, marked eggs, and then turned her nest box 90 degrees so she could enter it without having to squish her way in. With the addition of the last panel, it made getting into the nest box the way it was currently facing, a tight squeeze - if not impossible. By turning the box 90 degrees, it now faced the right way for the pen layout. Within about 30 seconds of me finishing it up, she was at the pop door and coming back in the coop. She right away saw there was a panel blocking the way to where her nest box was located. She wasn't too upset, but not happy either. I gently guided her through the door to the pen and got her to the edge of her nest box. She stayed there while I closed the door behind her, and then I left the coop for her to figure it out. Outside the coop, I could hear her pecking at the fence which I knew meant that she wasn't going in to her box yet. This went on for a couple minutes. I thought that maybe she couldn't see very well because it is dark under there. I went to get a small flashlight that I was going to shine in there so she could see the entrance and her eggs. But, when I opened the door to the coop, she had already figured it out herself and was back sitting on the eggs. Quite a relief.
That brings us to tonight, which is end of day one. I checked on her several times, and she was holding tight with the trance look. She hadn't touched her water or food that I could tell, so I'm thinking tomorrow if that's still the case, I'm going to need to put her in the run to do her thing. If it comes to that, I'd set her out there, then close her pen door so none of the other birds could get in there, then when she returns, open her pen door and let her go back in. Hopefully, she'll venture out on her own to her feed and water. Oh, taking the advice of others, her feed and water station are about 3-4 feet away from her nest box. With only 8 total feet to work with, it was the best compromise I could do in the 15 minutes I had to install everything. I've added pictures here at the bottom to give more detail and context to the setup.
Once again, thanks to everyone following along and offering advice. It's exciting to have "real" eggs under her now and know that tomorrow morning is "day 2". Long ways to go, for sure, but it has really started. I'm also seriously entertaining the idea that was suggested of watching for day old chicks in my area in case I need to supplement the hatch. My wife really wants a Buff Orpington and I'd like a Speckled Sussex, but I couldn't find those eggs around here and our time was limited. We'll just see how things shake out over these next weeks, but I think preparing for that possibility might be a good idea.