Hi. We started on BYC looking at coop design last year. Now we have a great coop in the shed and 9 chickens. Getting about 5 eggs a day now-- lots of fun, especially watching our "special" Silkie, "Fluffy." Question #1: Martha is broody and won't get off the nest. How long will this last and should I be doing anything for/to her? I do not want baby chicks this winter. Question #2: Some yayhoo chicken is pooping in one of the nesting boxes. Any suggestions as to why this is happening and what I could do to stop it? I look forward to hearing from and sharing with you.
If you don't want her to brood, kick her off all day, lock her out, put her in a wire bottom cage and make her miserable. Seriously. Some broodies will sit and sit and sit till they lose all their weight if they don't get chicks, so the sooner you try to "break" her the better as it isn't really the best for their health. Some will get up on their own after a month, but with winter on the fringe, I'd break her and not risk her sitting for a few months in the worst of the year. Check to see if you have a nest box sleeper. That's most likly the reason for the poo. If it's not a nest box sleeper, I'm not sure how you can stop it. Poopy eggs isn't very fun... reach in expecting a nice clean egg and get your index finger in a pile. Yuck!! WELCOME!!!!
I agree with silkiechicken. Some of my girls started sleeping in the next boxes. I started puting a milk crate in the boxes at night so they couldn't sleep in them and taking them out in the mornings. After a couple of weeks they stopped sleeping in the nest boxes and started sleeping on their roost. I had one that was a little more persistant and I would put her out. After doing it a few times she finally got the message too.
Welcome, I have a bit of a different problem, my girls go into the nest boxes and they fluff about in there, but they all sleep on the roost and they are laying on top of the nest boxes... So I am just going to raise the nest boxes up higher and see if that works. At least they do not poop in there...lol... it is the cleanest place in the coup. Good luck to you. Jena.
Quote:By laying...do you mean actually laying the egg on the roof of the nest boxes? If so, it might be in your best interest to make it where they can't sit on top of the nest boxes until they learn that the eggs are to be laid IN the box. I suggeest this, because the higher you raise your nest boxes, the higher the chance of them beginning to roost on them as well as in them. Todd
WOW! Thank you! I'm kicking Martha out and will put her in the other half of the rabbit cage if needed. (seperate from Bunny) And I'm going to turn the nesting boxes sideways at night so they can't hang out in the them. Oh, and to Jena, we put a slanted roof above our nesting boxes, so there is no way the chickens could sit up there. It's on hinges, and can be easily lifted up and we use the underside (the top of the nesting box shelf) for storage. This is fun. Thanks for your help.
I feel like an idiot. My nests came from Sears never mind how many years ago. There are little wooden rails in front each row of nests for the hens to land on when they fly up to go into the nests. I always thought that the rails flipped up to make it easier to move the nest unit (but why would anyone want to move them around?). Well DUH DEE! You fold the rails up to keep the hens out of the nests at night!!!!!!!
