Yesterday Bluebell laid her egg in the little coop at nine o’clock in the morning. Mid morning Honey settled in the nest box to lay her egg, but once Bluebell realised she was in there, she kept going in and chasing her out. I tried to distract Bluebell with some greens.<\/p>\n
I then had to go out and on my return went in to check on the girls. There was no egg in the nest box and when I looked down there was evidence of a splat on the patio again but no remains of an egg. I then checked the run and found the top of Honeys egg shell which I removed.<\/p>\n
This means Bluebell must have chased Honey out again and Honey goes to the coop roof to get out of her way. She must have laid her egg once again to roll down the coop roof and smash on the patio.<\/p>\n
This is becoming a real problem because I can’t be there all the time to watch over them. I think Amber is feisty enough to hold her place in the nest box but Honey is more timid.<\/p>\n
The girls had eaten all of the egg and most of the shell. They have never shown any interest in the eggs laid in the coop and nest box so I hope it’s just their instinct to eat the smashed egg and they don’t associate it with their eggs in the nest box.<\/p>\n
It’s such a shame though and I don’t really know what I can do about this as I can’t always tell when Honey is going to lay and can’t stand guard over her. I really need her to toughen up and not let Bluebell chase her out of the nest box.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Yesterday Bluebell laid her egg in the little coop at nine o’clock in the morning. Mid morning Honey settled in the nest box to lay her egg, but once Bluebell realised she was in there, she kept going in and … Continue reading