Whilst being broody Butterscotch seems able to get all the girls to lay their eggs next to her. I swear she has telepathic powers.
Recently I have taken photos of Barley and Butterscotch in the nest box together and then Speckles and Butterscotch. Yesterday it was Peaches turn.
Peaches lays her egg next to Butterscotch
Barley looks on
Peaches and Barley are so together that whenever Barley is in the next box Peaches stands guard and looks on and whenever Peaches is in the nest box Barley does the same.
I do find it fascinating that when Butterscotch isn’t broody the girls don’t want to share a nest box but while she is broody they all ignore the empty nest box and lay their eggs next to her.
Last month before she started moulting Emerald shared the nest box with Butterscotch. This month all three girls that are still laying have shared the nest box with her.
Emerald and Butterscotch
Speckles and Butterscotch
Barley and Butterscotch
Peaches and Butterscotch
In the two photos above you can tell it’s Barley in the first photo because her comb flops to the right and in the photo above it’s Peaches with her comb flopping to the left. In both photos the other one is looking on which is something they almost always do.
Telepathic Butterscotch should be coming to the end of her broody spell any day now. It would be good to have her laying again as eggs are sparse with only three girls laying. It will also be good to see her out in the run again.
Click here to see the history of my flock.
That is lovely. It’s like they know she wants to be a surrogate mum and trying to help out.
I thought of you saying its the other way round, they all think that they can’t be bothered with all that sitting in the nest box so just give their eggs to Butterscotch and leave her to get on with it. It is funny!
I would suspect that they know she is broody and are trying to get their hens into the clutch to increase their chances of passing on their genes whilst not broody themselves. It is likely that they will also associate Butterscotch’s choice of nest box to brood in as a sign that this is a good place to have a nest and raise chicks, so that will influence them to lay there too.
I totally agree and that was the conclusion I came too. They offer up their eggs to Butterscotch to brood for them. Shame I come along and take them all! They don’t realise with no cockerel there is no chance any way. It is quite sweet to see though.
Yes, it is so sweet and I always feel bad for them after seeing their nesting behaviour that we just come along and take all their hard work away as soon as they are done. I guess that is why we spoil them so much!
Again I just have to agree. We just can’t spoil them enough. Their eggs are all the better for it too. Fresh greens each day give lovely rich coloured yolks.
It is nice to see how close they have all come.
It is really lovely at the moment to see them all settled and really together. I really think they are a contented happy flock.
That photo was the last day of Butterscotch being broody. The next day all three laying girls had laid by mid morning so I decided to take Butterscotch out and close the nest boxes. I knew she was at the end of being broody and thought that I could speed it along.
That was it. Next morning she stayed out and only went in once at lunch time. I lifted her out and again and she stayed out. She has stayed out ever since. I am so glad as it is too hot to be stuck in a nest box all day. Butterscotch is back to normal. Hurrah!
You have nice, roomy nesting boxes, which will still give them comfort when sharing; mine are all ‘singles’, but they do share when there is a broody in residence although, strangely, never double up apart from that – rather, they wait their turn, ignoring several other nest boxes! Had 9 broody last week (apart from the 2 with chicks); 3 are now back to normal, but another 3 have started. I was pecked today for the first time ever – my girls may sound a bit disgruntled when removed, but are all very docile. Swift action needed, when removing SS1 (silkie sister 1 [of 3]). Happy days!
My nest boxes, when I bought them, were actually called “small animal house” so are probably much bigger than your average nest box. They double up as a coup for two when integrating. When we made the small extra nest boxes they were not popular with the girls and have been abandoned. My girls have got used to being spoiled. Funny though that you also only experience sharing when there is a broody. My goodness, you do have a lot of broodies!