We have a wheaten ameraucana which started laying mid-December and then stopped mid-January. We were a bit baffled, but figured she would start laying again eventually.
Now it seems like the time she sometimes spends in the nesting box is her thinking she's incubating eggs. The thing is, she doesn't spend more than at most an hour or two per day on the nesting box. Most of the time she acts normal, off the nesting box in the tractor acting like she wants to go out, or free ranging when she can.
This morning I took her off the nesting box and locked her out of the tractor. She's been circling it, trying to get back in ever since.
Anyone ever have a part-time broody?
Any advice about breaking a part-time broody?
I hate to completely isolate her (our third hen died a couple of weeks back, so isolating her means having two lonely chickens). I could put her in a rabbit cage inside the tractor. Or since we only have one hen laying, I could block off the nesting boxes once the layer has laid for the day.
Now it seems like the time she sometimes spends in the nesting box is her thinking she's incubating eggs. The thing is, she doesn't spend more than at most an hour or two per day on the nesting box. Most of the time she acts normal, off the nesting box in the tractor acting like she wants to go out, or free ranging when she can.
This morning I took her off the nesting box and locked her out of the tractor. She's been circling it, trying to get back in ever since.
Anyone ever have a part-time broody?
Any advice about breaking a part-time broody?
I hate to completely isolate her (our third hen died a couple of weeks back, so isolating her means having two lonely chickens). I could put her in a rabbit cage inside the tractor. Or since we only have one hen laying, I could block off the nesting boxes once the layer has laid for the day.
