Unsecure chicken perches

[speckleyboo]

I have had a rather stressful morning of fights between normally friendly chooks, 1 got a toe nail torn out by being awkwardly pushed off a ladder fighting for the nesting box (that bled supprising amounts, I've put some purple spray on it).

They are now both in the nesting box but seem to be trying to occupy the same space, with one sitting on the other, I've tried to stop them, by moving them, shutting them out, and just standing in the run with the scary broom, but I've created a lot of noise and some pain for myself.

 

I have no way of separating them...any advice on what's best to do would be appriciated.

Thanks

[SMS6]

have you only got the 2? Are they still laying?

 

We've just had a session with one broody and it has taken us about 2 weeks to get her out of it. Of course she may have just come out of it herself in that time so it may have not been anything we did.

 

When possible we lifted her out of the nest box and off any eggs and made her go out with the others - she wasn't laying but was sitting on any egg anyone else layed. None of which are fertile.

 

If we were there to keep an eye on things we closed the hen house off but we had to be on hand to let anyone else in if they needed to lay and we shut her out during this time. Of course while we were at work she could sit all she liked so it wasn't really working but when we did have a few days of being there constantly we got a little more forceful. We tried the cold bath treatment - lifting her off and dunking her underneath in cold water. then we made sure that she couldn't get comfy at night time by putting small metal grids in the base of the henhouse and we always block off the nest boxes at night anyway.

 

Not sure how we'd have managed 2 though

[speckleyboo]

There's 4 in total (plus 2 newbies in a spilt off run)

1 of the others had a small look in on the arguement and decided against it, the other seems to not care.

Kali, who lost her toe, is our head chook and onlys lays about twice a week so I don't know if she's stopped laying, and Darla still laid yesterday.

Kali has currently won the nesting box, Darla is stroping outside, not happy she's lost.

Both me and my mum work full time so there's noone here to watch them most of the time, just lucky today was my day off.

We do have some netting so I can try to make the best box uncomfortable.

 

Also slightly less important, but Kali has bled everywhere, it's like she saw she was bleeding and, on purpose, went everywhere in the run she could...is it ok to leave? I've tried washing it, but blood out of wood is not easy. Purple spray it maybe?

[SMS6]

Hmm I don't really know about the blood that's been splashed around - haven't had that experience yet

 

My broody stopped laying herself once she was determined to sit and hasn't started again yet but she only stopped trying to sit on everything and nothing about 3 days ago.