Broody Easter Egger?

[RebelEgger]

Do you have a chicken run? Since she is not yet fully broody, seperating her for a couple of days should do. Some people block off the nesting boxes also.

Yes we have a run, I was thinking of setting up a wire dog crate for her in the run. Her sister will still need to access the next boxes so I still need to leave them open... right?

 

[RebelEgger]

Thanks everyone, I'll see what she's up to tomorrow and get her set up with a jail if necessary. I'll keep you updated! Appreciate the comments and advice!

 

[DobieLover]

Or putting in an order for fertile eggs

That's a sure fire way to break her!

 

[aart]

Yes we have a run, I was thinking of setting up a wire dog crate for her in the run. Her sister will still need to access the next boxes so I still need to leave them open... right?

Yes, that's the main reason to use a breaker crate.
Crate will need to have spill proof water and feed,
and be protected from the weather and predators.

 

[RebelEgger]

The broody suspect, Roberta. She has been good far today. Both her and her sister went in the coop around 2pm. Lizabeth (her sister) laid her egg, Roberta was in there for an hour and nothing. She heard me tapping on a dish and came running out at top speed to see what she was missing out on, had some watermelon, a drink then proceeded to scratch around. So far so good. She is currently out on probation but if she violates the terms of her probation she will be thrown in the slammer. Evading conviction so far.

 

[PoultryCQ]

The broody suspect, Roberta. She has been good far today. Both her and her sister went in the coop around 2pm. Lizabeth (her sister) laid her egg, Roberta was in there for an hour and nothing. She heard me tapping on a dish and came running out at top speed to see what she was missing out on, had some watermelon, a drink then proceeded to scratch around. So far so good. She is currently out on probation but if she violates the terms of her probation she will be thrown in the slammer. Evading conviction so far.
View attachment 2768594

Yes we have a run, I was thinking of setting up a wire dog crate for her in the run. Her sister will still need to access the next boxes so I still need to leave them open... right?

She is gorgeous!

 

[RebelEgger]

I checked her today to make sure she wasn’t egg bound since I have no experience with broody or egg binding. I didn’t feel an egg in her. She has been having huge poops when she is out - broody poops I have read about? I decided to put her in jail for the weekend.

Edit:
She had been good on Wednesday, but then she went in the nest box and no matter how many times I took her out she would go back in, yesterday I assume she was in there all day as well. No egg since Monday. She still is not cranky, growling or biting but I assume she is going down the broody road.

Berta is NOT happy about her current situation. Is this an ok set up for broody jail?

I had the cage elevated but the mesh I have isn’t hardware mesh, it’s just soft garden mesh and with her crooked little toes she was stumbling around too much. I was afraid she’d hurt herself so I put the kennel right on the ground.
I plan on gearing up a tarp to protect from the elements.
Any additional advice is appreciated.

 

[PoultryCQ]

I checked her today to make sure she wasn’t egg bound since I have no experience with broody or egg binding. I didn’t feel an egg in her. She has been having huge poops when she is out - broody poops I have read about? I decided to put her in jail for the weekend.

Edit:
She had been good on Wednesday, but then she went in the nest box and no matter how many times I took her out she would go back in, yesterday I assume she was in there all day as well. No egg since Monday. She still is not cranky, growling or biting but I assume she is going down the broody road.

Berta is NOT happy about her current situation. Is this an ok set up for broody jail?

View attachment 2770839
View attachment 2770840View attachment 2770842View attachment 2770844

I had the cage elevated but the mesh I have isn’t hardware mesh, it’s just soft garden mesh and with her crooked little toes she was stumbling around too much. I was afraid she’d hurt herself so I put the kennel right on the ground.
I plan on gearing up a tarp to protect from the elements.
Any additional advice is appreciated.

Yep, large poops are broody poops. They may also remove their feathers from their underside. If you dont lift the crate to allow airflow (which helps a lot), it may take longer to break her. Even when she is broken she may take a good few weeks to start laying. Thats plenty normal for a broody.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Should be fine as you have it. Lifting it for airflow is a bonus but not "necessary" in most cases. If she doesn't show signs of breaking in a few days I'd rethink if there's a way to elevate it, but hopefully that won't be necessary.

 

[RebelEgger]

Yep, large poops are broody poops. They may also remove their feathers from their underside. If you dont lift the crate to allow airflow (which helps a lot), it may take longer to break her. Even when she is broken she may take a good few weeks to start laying. Thats plenty normal for a broody.

Should be fine as you have it. Lifting it for airflow is a bonus but not "necessary" in most cases. If she doesn't show signs of breaking in a few days I'd rethink if there's a way to elevate it, but hopefully that won't be necessary.

Thank you very much! She seemed to accept her fate yesterday and calmed down in there. I have to admit I was so worried about leaving her in there all night that when it was their bedtime I blocked off the nest boxes and put her in the coop with her sister. She went right up on the roost. We went out for a couple hours and got home at 11pm, I checked on her and she was still roosting with her sister. Let her out this morning and put her right back in jail (and unblocked the nest boxes for Lizabeth). Hopefully this method will still work.