Margaid
Well-known member
I have fitted external Chick Boxes to my hen houses and have always had a slight nagging fear that they might be too small, particularly for the Welsummers.
Left Flop Leghorn has gone broody, but always leaps out of the nest box and rushes out of the house whenever I try to grab her to put her in the sin house. This morning I went out to collect the eggs. Nothing in either of the end boxes, so I opened the middle box... to find BOTH Leghorns in there, and both leapt out with a squawk. At the side of the box, next to where Left Flop had been sitting was (wait for it) a Cream Legbar egg, a Leghorn egg and a large brown Welsummer egg.
So at some point, presumably not all together, three of the other hens had been in the nest box with Left Flop. (Little Lily Legbar doesn't lay every day.)
After that demonstration, I've stopped worrying.
Oh, and Left Flop wandered into the sin house this afternoon after I went to lift her out of the nest box. I was refilling the drinkers so managed to shut the door on her. When the others came back for their treats I thought she was going to injure herself against the wire. This evening she managed to knock the ladder down, although she's perfectly capable of flying up to the platform outside the house. She went into the house when I opened the run to put the ladder back so I shut her in for the night.
The funniest thing was the squirrel which was helping itself to the grain - it rushed off when it heard me, straight into the weldmesh side of the little run with quite a loud thump. I hope it has a headache!!
Left Flop Leghorn has gone broody, but always leaps out of the nest box and rushes out of the house whenever I try to grab her to put her in the sin house. This morning I went out to collect the eggs. Nothing in either of the end boxes, so I opened the middle box... to find BOTH Leghorns in there, and both leapt out with a squawk. At the side of the box, next to where Left Flop had been sitting was (wait for it) a Cream Legbar egg, a Leghorn egg and a large brown Welsummer egg.
So at some point, presumably not all together, three of the other hens had been in the nest box with Left Flop. (Little Lily Legbar doesn't lay every day.)
After that demonstration, I've stopped worrying.
Oh, and Left Flop wandered into the sin house this afternoon after I went to lift her out of the nest box. I was refilling the drinkers so managed to shut the door on her. When the others came back for their treats I thought she was going to injure herself against the wire. This evening she managed to knock the ladder down, although she's perfectly capable of flying up to the platform outside the house. She went into the house when I opened the run to put the ladder back so I shut her in for the night.
The funniest thing was the squirrel which was helping itself to the grain - it rushed off when it heard me, straight into the weldmesh side of the little run with quite a loud thump. I hope it has a headache!!
