Mrs

[fantasticjudyann]

Mabel has been firmly attached to the nest box for three days but is not laying. When I got her out this evening she ran around the run sqwawking with her feathers all fluffed out looking extremely indignant.

 

She is about nine months old and has laid a beautiful small brown egg every day since she came into lay.

 

There was only one other egg in the nest box and that belonged to Bluebell. What is going on

 

Any ideas anyone

[mollyripkim]

Soundslike she may be broody to me - I have two st the moment who behave exactly like that.

[fantasticjudyann]

Thanks for that- I wondered the same thing. Trouble is I am going on holiday on Thursday for a week and friends are chicken sitting. Should I do any thing special? We have 2 Eglus but they tend to lay in just the one. I have four chooks. What did you do?

[mollyripkim]

Going on holiday makes it a bit more difficult, there is lots of advice on setting up broody cages mostly in dog cages raised off the ground for airflow which cools them down and usually breaks them of it in three days. Personally I tried it once and she still went back to the nest so now I just remove her several times a day, much to her disgust, she then goes and eats, drinks, a potter and then back to the nest. I work from home so that makes it easier for me to do that.

 

If its any reassurance I was out all day yesterday and worried they would starve so as soon as I got home in the evening I checked and they had food in their crops so must have left the nest of their own accord to feed.