I think humidity does matter alot more...here is what I noticed. I was not planning to be having so many hens go broody. Nature had her own plans, so when they started sitting I thought OK, great! When Moe my fav hen went missing and then showed up for scratch time then took off, I knew she too had a nest, only in the woods, (now she'd prob be fine,but once the peeps started it would drag every hunter to her in no time so i went to collect the nest) and what a beautiful nest. It was lined with soft leaves and feathers and dug down into the dirt, eggs first then all the lining and i sccoped up as much dirt as I could (I'd stuffed Moe in my jacket while I was doing this what a grumpy fluffball) and i quickly rebuilt the nest, dirt first (I added some more dirt since I started hitting the briars and had a few stuck in my hand) I tried to get it as I found it, course, she'd have to snuggled the eggs in better than me! She did. And i was happy she went right back on the eggs immediately.
All the other hens had nest boxes with some straw and pine chips, they all had around 15 eggs in each nest, I gave pepper 8 more since she started with 6. They all hatched about half the eggs. Moe hatched all but two.
I remember from reading or somewhere, to lay sod green side down in the nest boxes, then put straw on that, it came back to me taking that nest apart, and it stands to reason doesn't it, they do nest on the ground after all, besides humidity, the dirt will hold temp better too. And why are they scratching around so much when laying...to get down to the dirt? The bottom of Moe's box was damp when I cleaned it.
I am going to line my boxes with dirt now, maybe 3 inches packed down, with wood chips on top of that, I can see for myself it made a huge difference and wish I'd try it sooner. Now, of course, I have about 25 chicks just hatched out, so doubt I'll have another broody so soon, but of course that's when it will happen.
All the other hens had nest boxes with some straw and pine chips, they all had around 15 eggs in each nest, I gave pepper 8 more since she started with 6. They all hatched about half the eggs. Moe hatched all but two.
I remember from reading or somewhere, to lay sod green side down in the nest boxes, then put straw on that, it came back to me taking that nest apart, and it stands to reason doesn't it, they do nest on the ground after all, besides humidity, the dirt will hold temp better too. And why are they scratching around so much when laying...to get down to the dirt? The bottom of Moe's box was damp when I cleaned it.
I am going to line my boxes with dirt now, maybe 3 inches packed down, with wood chips on top of that, I can see for myself it made a huge difference and wish I'd try it sooner. Now, of course, I have about 25 chicks just hatched out, so doubt I'll have another broody so soon, but of course that's when it will happen.
