The cat box is becoming a popular nest box. Emerald often runs around manically before laying her egg as if she isn’t really satisfied with the nest box choices.
Yesterday she settled in to the right hand nest box for a while but then she suddenly ran out of the nest box and ran to the shed. She went straight into the cat box and started scratching around. She flicked some pine shavings on to her back and then she promptly laid her egg.
It was if as soon as her egg was imminent she decided she needed to be in the cat box.
Emerald scratches at the pine shavings
Makes a nest
And promptly lays her egg
I am not surprised that out of the original flock it’s been Speckles and Emerald that have laid in the cat box. Speckles has laid in the chicken shelter before now and Emerald often gets a bit manic before egg laying as if she can’t decide which is the best place to lay.
The rest of the girls pick a nest box and usually stick with it. Yesterday Freckles chose the right hand nest box to lay her egg.
I could tell that Cinnamon was ready to lay her next egg too. She was being very vocal and coming up to the patio area. She looked in the shed and I showed her the cat box but she quickly left the shed. She went to the right hand nest box but left a little later.
At that point we had to go out to deliver an afternoon tea. When we returned I checked the nest boxes and there was a, slightly warm, egg in the right hand nest box. It had the longer, slimmer shape of Cinnamon’s previous eggs so I concluded that she had managed without my help.
It probably helped that Emerald and Freckles had already laid and none of the other girls needed to lay so she had a bit more freedom to choose her preferred nest box.
Well done Cinnamon. It seems that she is going to be as good an egg layer as Freckles.
This morning went I went out to clean the chicken shed and there was a tiny, pale shelled, egg under the three amigos roost spot. This must be Dandelion’s egg and it is the first one with a good shell and unbroken.
She just doesn’t seem to know when her egg is coming and sits either after she has laid or before she is ready to lay it. The good news is that her egg shell has improved and I hope that in time she will get better at knowing when her egg is coming.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
Happy days! Really pleased about Dandelion.
I am pleased too. It’s her fourth egg and the first one we can keep. I hope this means that she will be okay from now on.
Well done Dandelion.
she still didn’t realise she had laid it though and went and sat in the cat box for a while. At least I know that she is happy with the cat box as a nest box, she just needs to learn when the egg is actually coming.
Emerald laid in the cat box again today. It’s her new favourite place. It was funny because she having some spinach, I had just taken in, on the patio when she suddenly gave a shriek and ran at break neck speed to the shed and straight into the cat box. A few minutes later she had laid her egg. She must have been delaying to have the spinach until she realised her egg was coming. She is so funny.