- Mar 30, 2011
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My chicken is broody under the house, I hope. I haven't seen her all day or heard her.
She is sitting on unfertilized eggs. I managed to roll a few of them out from under the house and was trying to get them out from under the porch, when one cracked-- right atop the food I have sprinkled for her by her nest!
These eggs are old-- perhaps laid as long ago as last November, but there was no stink when the egg cracked and the yolk went all over her food.
So I have 2 new worries. If the egg is old could it get salmonella poisoning on her pellets that could make her ill? And will the cracked egg make her develop a taste for eggs and peck all the future ones she lays?
If she would peck up all those unfertilized old eggs it could be a blessing in disguise, because then maybe she'd come out from under the house and give up on the eggs. But the salmonella or disease issue from eating an old egg to get to her food has me more worried.
I don't know what to do. She doesn't seem to have come off her nest once in 3 days, but I had seen her beak pecking at the food and water yesterday and the day before.
Should I sprinkle fresh food over the yolk, covering it deeply, in hopes she'll eat that food instead of the egg? I thought about trying to dilute the mess with water poured through cracks in the porch floor, but I'm afraid it might make it too wet and damp. I'm already worried about her being under the porch. There's no way to get her out.
I'm at a loss as to what to do?
She is sitting on unfertilized eggs. I managed to roll a few of them out from under the house and was trying to get them out from under the porch, when one cracked-- right atop the food I have sprinkled for her by her nest!
These eggs are old-- perhaps laid as long ago as last November, but there was no stink when the egg cracked and the yolk went all over her food.
So I have 2 new worries. If the egg is old could it get salmonella poisoning on her pellets that could make her ill? And will the cracked egg make her develop a taste for eggs and peck all the future ones she lays?
If she would peck up all those unfertilized old eggs it could be a blessing in disguise, because then maybe she'd come out from under the house and give up on the eggs. But the salmonella or disease issue from eating an old egg to get to her food has me more worried.
I don't know what to do. She doesn't seem to have come off her nest once in 3 days, but I had seen her beak pecking at the food and water yesterday and the day before.
Should I sprinkle fresh food over the yolk, covering it deeply, in hopes she'll eat that food instead of the egg? I thought about trying to dilute the mess with water poured through cracks in the porch floor, but I'm afraid it might make it too wet and damp. I'm already worried about her being under the porch. There's no way to get her out.
I'm at a loss as to what to do?