My Wellsumer went broody again, trying to hatch two golf balls and three ceramic eggs. I thought this would be a great chance to order some fertile hatching eggs. They should arrive tomorrow. So very excited!
I have two laying boxes, but one is the clear favorite, and my girls line up to use it. That's where my Wellie is brooding, and also where the other two like to lay, the problem is they shove her out of the box to get in and lay. I thought it would be a good idea to isolate her where she won't be disturbed, so I set up a brood nest in the pen, with food and water close to her. I moved the golf balls and ceramic eggs to the brood nest, and she accepted the change quite well. The problem is this has thrown the other two for a loop. It seems they've forgotten all the times they sneaked eggs under the Day Lilies, in the mint, the compost heap, or in the rotting Box Elder stump. With no fake eggs to tell them where to lay, they are all kinds of confused! My EE spent the better part of they day in distress, clucking oddly, squatting, digging shallow depressions, and trying to find just the right spot to lay. Took me a while to figure it out, and once I did I returned yesterday's eggs to her usual box, and the second she saw the eggs go in, she climbed in, sat down, and promptly laid. My RIR on the other hand, was having none of that. She found her way into the isolated pen, shouldered(do chickens even have shoulders?) the Wellie off the nest and laid there. The Wellie then made her way BACK up to the coop to brood over the EEs latest egg.
My daffy chickens can't figure this stuff out, and only seem to want to lay eggs on other eggs. Hatching eggs arrive today, hopefully, so my Wellie can have those and I can return the fake ones to their usual box, and there will be more chicken drama.
I have two laying boxes, but one is the clear favorite, and my girls line up to use it. That's where my Wellie is brooding, and also where the other two like to lay, the problem is they shove her out of the box to get in and lay. I thought it would be a good idea to isolate her where she won't be disturbed, so I set up a brood nest in the pen, with food and water close to her. I moved the golf balls and ceramic eggs to the brood nest, and she accepted the change quite well. The problem is this has thrown the other two for a loop. It seems they've forgotten all the times they sneaked eggs under the Day Lilies, in the mint, the compost heap, or in the rotting Box Elder stump. With no fake eggs to tell them where to lay, they are all kinds of confused! My EE spent the better part of they day in distress, clucking oddly, squatting, digging shallow depressions, and trying to find just the right spot to lay. Took me a while to figure it out, and once I did I returned yesterday's eggs to her usual box, and the second she saw the eggs go in, she climbed in, sat down, and promptly laid. My RIR on the other hand, was having none of that. She found her way into the isolated pen, shouldered(do chickens even have shoulders?) the Wellie off the nest and laid there. The Wellie then made her way BACK up to the coop to brood over the EEs latest egg.
My daffy chickens can't figure this stuff out, and only seem to want to lay eggs on other eggs. Hatching eggs arrive today, hopefully, so my Wellie can have those and I can return the fake ones to their usual box, and there will be more chicken drama.
Very sad. 
The bantam Cochin is a frizzle and she has none of the cochin sweetness. Before she ever went broody she was a biter. But it's a good for taking charge with the babies. She's my tiniest hen but she scares everyone off with her crazy. After they hatched she relocated with her 4 day old chicks and moved in with the silkie. I couldnt figure out where they disappeared to.
