thecatumbrella
Furiously Foraging
Dandelion (my 21 week-old Cochin Bantam) has been semi-broody since August 6th. She continued to lay daily until yesterday. This morning, she did not come out of the coop as usual, and my husband found her broody on the roost bars. We opened up the nest box and gave her a couple hours to lay. She just wanted to sit. So I've committed to a full stint in the broody breaker.
~ Questions ~
- I'm using an 18x24 dog crate with 1/2 vinyl-coated hardware cloth on the floor. The poop does not fall through very smoothly, then she tramples all over it with her fluffy feat. I have a feeling I'll need to bathe her once we're through. Is there something better I can use? 1" hardware cloth? I want her to be comfortable, but I'm concerned this will end up attracting flies if she's covered in
.
- She paces constantly in the crate, tries to crawl on top of her food and water, lunges at the ceiling, and tries to shove her body through the bars like the T-1000. Is this normal broody behavior? I'm on the fence about building something, if only to prevent her from hurting herself.
- If she really does need to lay, do I just toughen up and force her to lay on the hardware cloth? Heartstrings are being pulled.
- Finally, her poops are very soft with a green tinge. Broody poops? Stress poops? She's eats and drinks very little.
- Edit: Should I have her sleep in there? Considering she went broody on the roost side this morning, I'm thinking that's probably a yes. I can also bring her inside overnight to keep her safe(r) from predators.
I want to make sure I'm doing this right. I hoped she would just plop down and wait out her sentence. Instead, she is very, very stressed out. That in turn, stresses ME out. Ugh... chickens, right?
Thanks in advance for any help!
~ Questions ~
- I'm using an 18x24 dog crate with 1/2 vinyl-coated hardware cloth on the floor. The poop does not fall through very smoothly, then she tramples all over it with her fluffy feat. I have a feeling I'll need to bathe her once we're through. Is there something better I can use? 1" hardware cloth? I want her to be comfortable, but I'm concerned this will end up attracting flies if she's covered in
.- She paces constantly in the crate, tries to crawl on top of her food and water, lunges at the ceiling, and tries to shove her body through the bars like the T-1000. Is this normal broody behavior? I'm on the fence about building something, if only to prevent her from hurting herself.
- If she really does need to lay, do I just toughen up and force her to lay on the hardware cloth? Heartstrings are being pulled.
- Finally, her poops are very soft with a green tinge. Broody poops? Stress poops? She's eats and drinks very little.
- Edit: Should I have her sleep in there? Considering she went broody on the roost side this morning, I'm thinking that's probably a yes. I can also bring her inside overnight to keep her safe(r) from predators.
I want to make sure I'm doing this right. I hoped she would just plop down and wait out her sentence. Instead, she is very, very stressed out. That in turn, stresses ME out. Ugh... chickens, right?
Thanks in advance for any help!
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