Elderly cat breathing difficulties when purring

[sugarplum]

i have three wyandottes and one started to lay last night but the thing it she layed between 9pm and 6:30am and when i went to let them out the egg was crushed as one of the other chickens likes to sleep in the nest box.

 

i know you are ment to cover up the nest if one of your chickens is sleeping in it but then i would feel mean about the other one wanting to lay an egg.

 

any help about what i should do would be wonderful

 

thanks

[Laura & CTB]

Maybe you could put a shallow plant pot in the eglu with some straw in as an extra nest box.

[Egluntyne]

Many hens prefer to sleep in the nest box. The only problem is that they tend to poo in it too.

[..lay a little egg for me]

She should lay later each day, so once she is laying during the daytime, maybe you could put the flower pot in at night?

[DW]

I've resolved the problem by wedging a rectangle of weldmesh vertically between the roosting bars and the back of the nest bowl. There's still plenty of space for my hens to sleep in the back corner (behind the nest) - their favourite spot.

 

Actually, I've made the rectangle slightly longer than the edge of the nest bowl, so that I could bend it round to make it come a couple of inches round the other side of the nest bowl. This ensures it stays upright, but still allows the girls to get in to the nest areas and lay first thing in the morning.

 

To make sure that they don't scratch themselves on the edge of the mesh, I've stuck a double strip of electrical insulation tape, thus padding it a bit. I've also had to bend the corner that's nearest the eggport, so that the hatch fits on properly.

 

The whole job took me no more than 5 minutes and has worked brilliantly. However, I suspect that my girls weren't actually sleeping in the nestbox, but were probably on the bars behind, with their bottoms hanging over the nest, potty-style!

 

D.

[Mutrix Farmers]

I've resolved the problem by wedging a rectangle of weldmesh vertically between the roosting bars and the back of the nest bowl. There's still plenty of space for my hens to sleep in the back corner (behind the nest) - their favourite spot.D.

 

Good idea DW!

[sugarplum]

thanks every one for your help