Red is broody and covering the nest boxes permanently

Three days after Gold went broody Red went broody too. Red had laid eight eggs in thirteen days which is the exact same amount she laid last time before she went broody. So once again we are down to only one girl laying, that being Snow.

I have been keeping the nest boxes closed until Snow wants to lay. Once I open them Red and Gold occupy both boxes and Snow always chooses Red to share a nest box with.

In other news it has now been three weeks that Mango and Cloud have been going in the chicken shed at bedtime. I thought it had been long enough to uncover the nest boxes and see what they would do at bedtime.

After our evening meal I went up to check on the girls. All the girls were already perched in the chicken shed except Mango and Cloud who were on top of the nest boxes! I couldn’t believe it after all this time.

I lifted them down and recovered the nest boxes. Mango and Cloud instantly went in the chicken shed and perched.

I decided that we would need a more permanent cover for the nest boxes. We came up with the idea of stapling a piece of thick tarpaulin that we had in the shed to the marine ply behind the nest boxes. I then rolled it around a piece of broom handle from the shed and let it drop over the front edge of the nest boxes. I can then lift it up to access the nest boxes.

I used to worry when the girls jumped on the nest boxes that they might hurt their feet on the ramps when jumping down so this will stop that happening too. It will also stop the top of the nest boxes getting pooped on.

We then added a hook to the marine ply so that I can hook the cover up when I open the nest boxes. This leaves me two hands free for lifting out broody girls.

Hopefully this means girls sitting on the nest boxes will now be a thing of the past. It will be interesting to see what Mango and Cloud make of it tonight. Hopefully they will just ignore it.

Edit

After our evening meal we checked on the girls. They were all in the chicken shed and perched, hurrah!