Nest fighting and broodiness already!?!

[BarkerChickens]

We have six hens that are about 5 months old and they've been laying for a few weeks now. ALL 6 lay in the same nest even though they have 5 to choose from. I just went to check on them and Molly was shoving her little head under Gabby...stealing the two eggs from under her (not either of theirs to begin with) and then proceeded to shover her self completely under Gabby and booted her off the nest! None of them stay on the nest long after they've laid, but these two are hilarious! Poor Gabby was making cackling sounds that sounded more like a dolphin (remember Flipper??

) than a chicken. I can only imagine how broody Molly will be when she's full-grown! Luckily she is a gorgeous Ameracauna and she lays daily so far, so she'd a good hen to let hatch her own clutch. Uh oh...you all are rubbing off on me already! We haven't even gotten a rooster yet!

 

[BarkerChickens]

Ok..so I had to check on them again. Molly gonna get an egg on her head! Gabby won't move so she is sitting on top of Molly! HA HA

 

[SpottedCrow]

LOL!!! Better an egg than the otehr alternative...

 

[BarkerChickens]

HA HA!! Very true! Even my DB said that with the way they are acting, we won't need to by more chicks...we'll just hatch our own once they get a little older! Ok...so we have to get a rooster first...but then.....

 

[Wolf-Kim]

If the competition gets too fierce for that one nest, you may want to look at putting wooden eggs or golfballs in the other nests.

I had a black sex-link that was the broodiest chicken I've owned so far, and she would sit in the nests and peck all the other hen's legs till they bled. I once went out there and couldn't find two hens, turned out they had both crammed their full-grown selves into a five gallon bucket to set some eggs. I have put golfballs into several of the nests since all this drama to avoid the hens harming each other in an attempt to lay their "precious bundle" into the "ONLY" "suitable" nests. LOL.

-Kim