Unsecure chicken perches

[prof]

i have a very broody partridge orp who i bought 12 fertilised eggs to sit on today.

she is separate from the others in an eglu with run on, but can still see the others who are in the same fenced off area of the garden with access to a cube .

do i need to alter the eglu once her eggs hatch? remove the bars maybe? what do i put on the floor? sawdust? can i leave the grub and glug in for mum and put a saucer in for chicks? do i need to put netting around the run?

how long do the chicks stay with mum? so many q`s!

Many thanks. Any advice welcomed.

[Chillicat]

Definitely - I have had two sets of broodies in my eglu. I took out the roosting bars and used Aubiose (my favourite bedding) on the floor. When the chicks hatch they stay in the eglu for a while, until mum says its ok to go outside (usually Day 2 to find food and water). I cover my run with plastic sheeting to give them some shelter and to keep the rain out and put lots of Aubiose on the floor. It helps if you can put a paving slab just outside the door into the run so it's not too much of a jump - they only just about manage it! A spare eglu for a maternity ward and nursery is a must! Good luck!

[Cheryl]

I managed to get a secondhand eglu.. I put a new plywood floor inside it so it was flat and made a great entrance out of a fat slab of wood with little stepping bars.. theres a mummy baldneck in there with two chicks, but they havent ventured out yet.. the flooring is straw.. Im sure it will be ok..

 

[donald]

Hi

 

I just used my eglu for the broody I was worried when I took the slats out as it was a large drop! Yesterday I found a duckling on the floor(it is fine and well) whilst Mrs Broody was on the nest bit. I should have piled up the aubiose bedding to make it as high as the nest box. I have now done that and yesterday the broody was nesting with ducklings on the side of the nest box in the aubiose and I have just been to check on them and they are all in the nest box.

 

Agree with a previous post with picks , take slats out and build up the bedding to the height of the nest box(I sort of sloped it so they can walk up(ie half the area and around the nest box so they dont fall is packed out with bedding.

 

The ducklings are quite robust and have gone up the step entrance of the eglu with no problem. I have never hatched anything so I dont know about chicks managing this step up.

 

As its raining they are inside now. I have a cube and got the eglu for introductions so am glad to be using it. Very pleased.

[Egluntyne]

As has been advised. remove the roosting bars and add a bedding material such as Aubiose. I'm not a lover of straw or hay. IMHO it is not absorbent enough, and can harbour parasites.

 

I always put a house brick as a step up into the house for the chicks, and it works well. I also line up pieces of linkabord along the bottom of the run, to stop any escape bids by the chick when they are tiny.

[prof]

Thankyou all for your helpful advise

Should i candle the eggs? they are due to hatch on the 22nd.

Also should i move the broody off the nest now and again? I work ft but have noticed that she is doing the odd broody poo in the run so she must have a break.

If and when they hatch do i still leave the eglu door open or do i close it for a couple of days? and do i put food and water in the eglu for the chicks or put it in the run.

will the chicks manage the climb out of the nest? maybe i need to sneak more straw in so its not such a big climb.

Many thanks again