I have 4 BO's, just over a year old. Been having broody problems since March. Finally, upon the advice of many BYC-ers, I made my own "broody buster" with scrap wood and chicken wire. Put it up on upside down buckets so it was off the ground and they stayed in there with food and water (2 of them) for about 5 days (they had already been broody a week by then). I let them out, things seemed ok at first, but I think it messed up the pecking order because ever since then, all 4 have been acting like nut jobs. All they do is go in and out of the coop all day. One goes in, looks around, comes back out. Another follows, does the same thing, then back out. Also, they have been kicking all the pine chips out the door of the coop. They are all over the run. There are feathers all over the run as well. They have been laying eggs in the run, all over the coop, someone has been rolling whatever eggs are laid in the egg box OUT of the egg box and into the coop. Yesterday, I cleaned out the coop and put all new pine chips in. Today, there is an egg in the coop near the door, and egg in the coop near the egg box that looks like it maybe was rolled out (I've seen them do this with my own eyes, so I know it has happened before), and POOP in the egg box. Like it was purposely used for pooping. Have my chickens gone mad, or have I?
Hahaha.....I feel for you. This is the number one reason why I do not own BO's. The only time I EVER have them is if I have some special eggs I want to hatch out with an actual mother, if not, I don't own them. Period. Broody hens are a delicate thing to mess with, especially with BOs. Your method of breaking the broody behavior has caused some....mental issues. Sounds like you have to re-educate your ladies on how and where to lay an egg. As far as scratching out shavings....that's pretty normal. You may have to expierement with different types of box material. Good Luck!
