how many nesting boxes ?

[kezabel]

I only have 4 bantams and they only have one nesting box. One of my girls has gone broody and is sitting in the box for hours at a time and the other hens are trying to get in there to lay their eggs. Should I add another nesting box? Or should I try and break the broody one? we don't have a rooster so the eggs are never gunna hatch

 

[teach1rusl]

Hmmm...I guess it depends on how frustrated your are with your little broody girl. I'd probably add another nest box myself... So what is she sitting on???? An egg? A golf ball? Or nothing???

 

[aimeeinwv]

maybe add a couple big baskets with some bedding of your choice - or a rubbermaid container with a lid.. with a hole cut in the side? That'll give the other girls a place temp. Just some easy fixes for now!

 

[kezabel]

she is sitting on nothing

because I keep getting the eggs that she lays out from under her(she pecks me like crazy though) The rubber maid box sounds like a good idea and I have an empty one too !!! Going to make a new nesting box cheers for the ideas. Oh and whats the best way to break a broody hen (actually she not quite a hen she is about 10 months old now) I've tried carring her around for a while and picking her up and putting her out of the coop but as soon as I leave the yard ahe goes straigh back in, cheeky lil thing

 

[PortageGirl]

To break her from broodiness, get an all wire dog cage (or something similar) and put her in there with food and water but no bedding so she has air circulating even under the cage. (put it up on a couple of 2x4s or something, to raise it a little if need be) she won't have any nesting material in there, and will be very unhappy about it, but it's the best way to break her broodiness up. This can take anywhere from 2 days to a week, so be prepared for a grouchy girl! With no roo, and if you don't want to get her fertile eggs to hatch, it's really best to get her past this as quickly as possible. It's hard on their systems to go broody, they don't eat, drink or exercise properly and they are wide open for health issues due to this.

 

[kezabel]

Thanks so much for the advice, I think I'll have to do what portagegirl said, because she has sat on the nest all day today. I made another nesting box from a big plastic container and the other girls seem to like it, they haven't laid in there yet but they sure have checked it out