spratly0 Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Have checked chicken info and am wondering if Mae is on the verge of being broody. Ursula has been laying for a couple of weeks now and Mae layed her first egg 4 days ago she has layed an egg a day but doesn't seem to want to give them up when i go to collect them. She has taken to sitting on Ursulas egg too. Yesterday when i went to collect they were both in the nesting box and Mae was sat on both eggs and Ursula was trying to drag hers back with her beak! I took the eggs and they both left the nesting box. Today i went down to the run and Mae was sat on an egg, (Ursula was in the run with the others), I took the egg and left her in the box as Ursula usually lays first. Have just been back and Mae had layed but put up a bit of a fight to let me have the egg. When i took it she sat there and i pushed her out of the box and she left the cube and joined the others. Am a bit is she broody? on the verge of being broody? or just protective of her produce? Am a bit worried about the cold bath remedy as its SO windy here today and is getting a bit chilly. Any advice much appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Sounds a bit like it. I'd turf her out and shut the door as soon as they have all laid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surferdog Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Sounds like she's thinking about it - this is how Sylvie starts (and what she's doing at the moment). The others hate her sitting on their eggs and bok bok bok loudly until I turf Sylvie out and collect the eggs. (As my son said wryly 'Yes the eggs are quite safe with us because "Ooops, word censored!"ody here eats eggs ) As Egluntine said turf her out and shut the door once she's laid. You can also use an ice pack wrapped up in an old tea towel to try and snap her out of it. Good luck1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spratly0 Posted August 18, 2008 Author Share Posted August 18, 2008 thanks for the replies. I turfed her out and shut the door and she seems to be ok with the others. Just hope that Gloria and Gerty don't start laying and leaving it until the afternoons or i'll have to go on an egg hunt every day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Yup, sounds broody to me . If you can put a brick in the nestbox or just shut the eglu door after everyone's laid that can help. Also turfing off the nestbox at any opportunity. A broody cage is a last resort if you really can't stop her. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chocolatedog Posted August 18, 2008 Share Posted August 18, 2008 Spice has been broody twice in 6 months - and yes, yours sounds like she is behaving like Spice did. It's almost imperceptible at first but you soon get to know about it! Spice gets very aggressive when I collect the eggs from under her and when I turf her out she struts round the garden "bok-bokking" as loudly as she can to let the whole neighbourhood know how cruel I am!!! She also puffs herself up to a huge size when on the nest, and plucks her breast feathers out - so another sign is lots of feathers lying around! To try to snap her out of it, I dunked her in a bucket of cold water every day and shut the eglu (fortunately I managed to find all Ginger's eggs - she found herself a nice little spot under a bush and laid there every day....never found Pepper's though they're probably still out there!! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
