Some hens want to raise babies so badly, that no matter what happens, they will return to a nest and insist on incubating even just one egg. So it is with four hens and a duck.
They were in the chicken coop nesting boxes where the rest of the hens laid their eggs, only they claimed the eggs as part of their own nest. Then more eggs were laid and more and finally there were up to 40 eggs in the boxes and still hens were trying to get in to lay. At the height of the broodiness, the coop stunk, the hens were two or three to a nest box and there were maggots in the boxes from broken eggs that flies had laid eggs in. It was one of the grossest messes I have ever had the pleasure (NOT!) of cleaning.
So the coop was closed. The old dog house was left outside as a nest box and four hens and Muscovy duck continued to be brooding in there, all of them, all day and night long. I threw them out amidst much protest and they clucked and pecked at me and fluffed up and fussed. Finally, I dismantled the dog house and emptied it. I have no idea where the normal hens will lay now, but there are no nest boxes available. And what did those brooding hens do?
They stayed exactly where I dumped them, clucking and fussing. One had an egg, so I took it away from her and all day, today at 32 degrees in the hot sun, they stayed there puffed out and brooding nothing. Now I know what is meant by annoyingly broody. I would give each one of them a nest box and some eggs if I thought they would not crowd into another hen's territory. Perhaps tomorrow I will try that. For today, they are brooding in the corner with nothing. Silly chickens!
They were in the chicken coop nesting boxes where the rest of the hens laid their eggs, only they claimed the eggs as part of their own nest. Then more eggs were laid and more and finally there were up to 40 eggs in the boxes and still hens were trying to get in to lay. At the height of the broodiness, the coop stunk, the hens were two or three to a nest box and there were maggots in the boxes from broken eggs that flies had laid eggs in. It was one of the grossest messes I have ever had the pleasure (NOT!) of cleaning.
So the coop was closed. The old dog house was left outside as a nest box and four hens and Muscovy duck continued to be brooding in there, all of them, all day and night long. I threw them out amidst much protest and they clucked and pecked at me and fluffed up and fussed. Finally, I dismantled the dog house and emptied it. I have no idea where the normal hens will lay now, but there are no nest boxes available. And what did those brooding hens do?
They stayed exactly where I dumped them, clucking and fussing. One had an egg, so I took it away from her and all day, today at 32 degrees in the hot sun, they stayed there puffed out and brooding nothing. Now I know what is meant by annoyingly broody. I would give each one of them a nest box and some eggs if I thought they would not crowd into another hen's territory. Perhaps tomorrow I will try that. For today, they are brooding in the corner with nothing. Silly chickens!
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