Another nest box idea and another day of egg laying drama

I have been thinking about how to help Cinnamon safely find a nest box to lay her egg. Before trying out the crisp box idea I had another idea. I decided to put the cat box in the chicken shed.

The cat box could make a perfectly good nest box. The problem was that in the run the pine shavings got scratched out. In the chicken shed this wouldn’t matter. It seemed that Dandelion was happy with a corner of the chicken shed but Cinnamon doesn’t feel safe enough in the shed. Perhaps the cat box in the shed would help her feel safe.

The other advantage is that in the shed she would go unnoticed whereas in the nest boxes on the patio she gets chased away by the other girls. I placed the cat box in a position where it wouldn’t get pooped on.

Another nest box

Yesterday another day of egg laying drama began. First Rusty decided it was time to start laying again.

Rusty is ready to lay again

Dandelion seemed ready to lay too and I showed her the cat box but at first she settled in the same corner of the shed as before.

Dandelion sits in the corner of the shed

Meanwhile Peaches wanted to lay her egg.

Peaches decides to share the nest box with Rusty

Dandelion came out of the shed without laying an egg

Cinnamon joins Dandelion on the patio

The three amigos are getting very brave

They get to have some apple

Rusty and Peaches were now out of the nest box and their eggs were side by side.

Meanwhile Speckles seemed to have vanished. I checked all the usual places and then checked the shed. Speckles had decided she wanted to lay her egg in the cat box.

Speckles likes the new nest box

Now Dandelion decided she needed to find somewhere to lay her egg. She kept going into the shed and shouting. She was really loud for a little girl and she didn’t look happy. I put her in a nest box but she wouldn’t stay and just kept going to the shed where she would stand and shout very loudly. We could hear her from the other end of the garden.

I tried shutting her in a nest box. When I lifted the lid to check on her she jumped out. She wasn’t going to settle like Cinnamon so I didn’t feel that I could shut her in again. She returned to the shed and stood there shouting.

I decided to leave her to it and see if she could work it out. When it all went quiet I returned to check on the girls and Speckles was out in the run but Dandelion was missing.

I looked in the shed and then in the cat box.

Speckles egg was in the cat box and Dandelion was sitting beside it

I removed Speckles egg and Dandelion settled down in the cat box.

Dandelion is settled in the cat box

It seems that all the fuss was because Dandelion wanted the cat box but Speckles had got it first. These girls really are drama queens!

When I next checked on them Dandelion was perched on the ladder in the run. I peeped into the cat box and ….. nothing! All that drama and she still hadn’t laid her egg. She does seem to have a bit of a problem with her egg laying.

The good news though is that she accepted the cat box as a suitable place to try to lay an egg. I will be leaving the cat box in place so that the girls get familiar with it. I hope that Cinnamon will find it next time she wants to lay.

If the three amigos turn out to be happy laying their eggs in the cat box that will be a problem solved.