i put a piece of hardware cloth across the hen's nest to give her separate space from the rest of the roosting box and other hens and placed it so the 'broody nest' was big enough for the hen and hatchlings to have room to move around a bit for a few days.
then for a while i'd let the hatchlings out into the bigger coop during the day while the rest of the hens were out in the yard.
as far as eggs getting continually added to the clutch, we marked the eggs in the nest and then removed any new additions daily.
and sorry, i don't have a suggestion for the eggs getting pecked or broken. hopefully someone else will.
judyb
On Sunday, June 29, 2014 3:23 PM, "ddimmittrn@gmail.com [CHICKENS-101]" <CHICKENS-101@yahoogroups.com> wrote:
Hi all,
I have a White Chantecler who is sitting on a clutch of eggs, about a week or so now. We kept shooing her out of the nestbox when she started going broody, but then decided to let her do her thing and see what happens. She is in a coop with about 25 other birds and seems very dedicated. Well, two things have arisen:
The other biddies jump into the nextbox when she jumps down for a drink, and they sometimes lay more eggs on top of hers. She is mounding up quickly and going higher (sort of LOL but not really). I've tried snitching one here and there from the periphery, but she gets very upset.
The other thing is that today I found three broken eggs on the periphery of the nest box. Mama had yolk on top of her head, and I wonder if she tried to either pitch them overboard, or stuff them deeper underneath and broke them...or maybe she pecked them open herself, or maybe the coop mates pecked them? Stepped on them? Pig pile on the clutch when Mama was at the watering trough. Thoughts? I hate to interrupt her now, but maybe it's a losing battle? Maybe not safe if she did hatch any chicks? Maybe I should put "curtains" across her nest? No option to put her anywhere else---and I hate to segregate her even if I could, as it would create other problems.
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Posted by: Judy Beaver <judybeav@yahoo.com>
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