4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[Lindy Loo]

Perhaps a bit of a silly question but here goes...

 

I have some hatching eggs under my broody Buff Orpington who is in the cube. The eggs are due to hatch tomorrow - it will be a miracle if any do actually hatch as she is not the best sitter in the world however should I move her and the eggs to the privacy of the eglu I can set up in the same enclosed area or should I wait until some of the eggs hatch before moving her and the chicks/rest of the eggs.

 

I don't want to her to stop sitting on the eggs and I'm scared she might do so if I move them BUT if the chicks hatch while they are in the eglu will they be safe from the other hens when they come in to lay. The nesting box in the cube is getting a bit crowded - what with my big Buff Orpington and my lavender Araucana who went broody yesterday they are all elbowing their way in for a space to lay!

 

Any advice would be welcome

[beach chick]

I tried moving my broody Sussex yesterday; she has sulked ever since and is determined to only be broody in 'her' eglu! she wouldnt sit in the broody coop I got all ready for her (quiet, self-contained, nesting box with some (non-fertilised) eggs etc etc, but is still broody in the eglu. so I dont know the real answer, but all I can say is that moving mine wasnt a success!!

[superjules]

Can you screen her off from the rest of the chooks until they are hatched? Personally, I wouldn't risk moving her - my SLW went nuts when I tried it, pacing up and down, you could hear her squawking from the end of the road!

 

If do decide to move her, do it at night. In preparation, you can put the nest into a cardboard box while she's having her food and drink, then lift the whole lot out and relocate after dark. If you are lucky, she won't notice.

[mrsm_jones]

Oh dear. I need to do this too. I'm afraid the chicks will fall through the roosting bars! Anyone else have any experience??

[puffball]

i am having same decision however i had 2 broodys last year - one stopped being broody(suprisingly puffball the silkie!) and the other stayed broody for ages!

 

this time i am moving her after the first couple hatch to be sure that she wont stop being broody/at least more likely to hatch if put in heating cupboard etc.

[superjules]

Oh dear. I need to do this too. I'm afraid the chicks will fall through the roosting bars! Anyone else have any experience??

 

Take the bars out and fill the tray up with aubiose.

[mrsm_jones]

 

Take the bars out and fill the tray up with aubiose.

 

What if they fall out of the coop? Will they be able to get up the ladder (we have a solid wooden plank one with rungs nailed onto it)

[superjules]

Sorry - I assume that because I've got an eglu, that's what everyone else has got too!

 

I don't know if anyone has hatched in a cube before, but where there's a will there's a way!