Bobo1 Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 We have an extremely broody hen and due to the distress shown when we collect eggs we have had to give her a couple of false ones. We are considering acquiring some fertilised eggs and let her hatch them but as she resides in the egg cube this will not be suitable for chicks; can anyone offer advice on the best type nesting boxes that we could keep within the run of the egg cube, where we can obtain fertilised eggs in the Oxfordshire area or what we can do to turn off her broodiness... Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted August 17, 2009 Share Posted August 17, 2009 Hi there, well, there's a lot of info on here but here goes - firstly ONLY consider hatching if you can deal with the boys - you WILL get at least 50% boys if you hatch and they are VERY VERY hard to rehome. If you CAN deal with the boyes then the hen and chicks will have to be completely seperate from the rest of your birds or the chicks will get killed and eaten! If you ask around someone might be able to lend you some temporary housing, a cube is no good because of the ladder but I hatched succesfully in an Eglu If you don't want to hatch then you have to cure your broody otherwise she will hog the nest and everyone else will gradually give up laying or start laying in the run. Realistically this means getting her out and putting her in a dog cage, or cat basket or rabbit hutch with no bedding with just food and water for about 3 days - they have to cool down, they get hot when they're broody! Good luck, broddies have been the bane of my life this year! BeckyBoo BTW, welcome to the forum!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
