Looking for some feedback on my broody buster

[rarneson]

I have two hens that went broody about the same time, maybe a week apart. It's been a couple of weeks maybe since it started. These are my first chickens and the first time I've dealt with broodiness, so I wasn't sure what they were doing at first. They've been jamming themselves in the same nesting box and from what I can tell they've been hoarding my other two hen's eggs. We have four in total. I physically moved them the other day and found six eggs. Hard to say how long they've been there but I'm guessing I should throw them out.

Based on suggestions I've seen here I decided to quarantine them, one at a time. It's a crazy town in the coop and the buster!

My main question is this: Is this spacing on the floor so much that the hen could hurt herself? She seems to be getting acclimated, and I've put down a couple 1x1's on the floor for her to stand on when she's eating and drinking.







Here's her broody partner, not happy with the situation.


Here she managed to escape through the openings in the roof.


Problem solved, I hope.

 

[donrae]

The escapee picture is too funny!

I think the wire may be a bit far apart. But, the thing is, if she's up and moving around that much, she's probably ready to come out of the cage.

You can always lay down some cardboard on the bottom. That will give her something solid to walk on, and makes clean up pretty easy.

 

[rarneson]

She is moving around non stop! I still don't trust her though. I'll give her a day or two in there with some time to roam the yard.

The tray underneath is actually meant to lay in the bottom of the cage but I was under the impression you want it as open and airy as possible.