This week I was once again traveling for work, spending 5 days in Orlando. I left the house about 5:30am Sunday morning. Mike didn't collect the eggs again until late Tuesday night. He mentioned that he was only getting one or two a day, instead of the 2 or 3 we've been getting the past couple weeks since Pru started laying. Last night I got home late and went out to say hi to the girls. Turns out the heat lamp for the girls had gotten unplugged. I plugged it back in and noticed that Phyl was sleeping in the nest box. I just thought, poor little chicken, she must be cold!
I went back in and was talking to Mike and mentioned that Phyl was so cold she was sleeping in the nest box. He said no, she's been there all the time for the past couple days. Sure enough, I went out this morning about 8am - all the other girls were out and looking for treats. Phyl was in the box, looking pissed and then tried to peck me when I moved her to see if there were any early am eggs. She's definitely gone broody on us. Too bad, as I was enjoying the volume of eggs.
I looked around online while eating lunch to see if I could find any tips on getting her to quit. The only one I saw that seems feasible with the set-up I've got, is to give her some ice cubes to sit on. Apparently the coldness on her underside should persuade her to stop. I'm going to give it a try tomorrow if she's still there...
I know I don't have many visitors here yet - but if anyone comes by - any tips for un-broodying a hen?
In other news, Pru laid a two-yolker yesterday! I'll have to get some pics this weekend now that I'm done traveling for a while.
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