I have two Isa Brown chooks. They both lay nearly every day so we are well kept in eggs. However, about this time each year, one goes clucky, stops laying and stays in the laying box most of the time. The other, sneaks in, lays its egg and gets out again.
Does anyone know how to encourage a clucky chook to get over being clucky?
You need to put it in a airy place with no litter, it has to be cooled down to stop it nesting. I used a c*c*ie's cage hung in the open part with shade. It worked a treat on the 2nd day it stopped being clucky, I had heritage chooks, so had quite a few going clucky.
-- Edited by Kebbin on Friday 12th of March 2021 06:01:51 PM
The fake eggs are to encourage her to sit not discourage, I have seen some extremely crook chooks in some peoples backyards, sitting on infertile eggs for 4 to 5 weeks full of lice because they won't give up.
Thank you all for your helpful, and sometimes unhelpful, suggestions. It's been raining lately so I'm a bit slow in implementing some 'helpful' suggestions. However, I've found removing the laying box, after the other unclucky chook has layed, seems to get the clucky chook out and about. Last year her comb and wattles were shrivelled up and pale so I was quite concerned. However, this year she looks a lot healthier.
I'll persevere with limiting her nesting time and if that doesn't work, I'll have to find a cage somewhere.
My clucky chook appears to be unclucky for these last two days. I don't know if it's the cooler weather or the method I'm using is working.
I checked the laying box each day at about noon when the other chook should have laid. I move out the clucky chook and remove the egg if one has been laid and then take out the cardboard box that contains the shredded paper. I then propped up the lid of the laying box and this seemed to discourage the clucky chook from going back into the laying box. She now seems to have decided that being clucky isn't as nice as scratching around in the yard.
My method isn't exactly what you have suggested but it seems that if one takes away the incentive for a chook to be clucky then the chook unclucks.
