17th July 2008 : THE BIG BROODER HOUSE

It's been a long time since my last post. Thought it was time to bring the blog up to date with what's been happening.
Some time in late June I noticed a difference in the behaviour/personality of Chilli (my Pepperpot). In the course of 2-3 days she went from being a very friendly (always first to run up and "crouch" when I went out in the evening) to running AWAY and being impossible to catch. When I got close she made a horrible growling sound and fluffed herself up into a huge ball of feathers.
After consulting with my "friends" on the OMLET FORUM it seemed likely that, despite only having started laying a few months earlier, she was getting broody. Sure enough, within a day or so of this change in behaviour extended to her remaining in the NEST AREA in the CUBE and all attempts to remove her were met with growling and fluffing up and, occasionally, some pecking at hands.
Naturally enough we also stopped getting three eggs a day and dropped down to two. On the plus side they were kept nice and warm for us under Chilli as she would scoop them up and push them under herself and remain sitting on them all day (if allowed). It seemed to me that Twiglet and Gypsy (the Gingernuts) were not at all bothered by their house-mates
I decided, after a bit of reading, that I wasn't really into the idea of forcing her (too hard) out of her state. I could live with one less egg a day for a few weeks. Suggestions of plunging her into cool water (to lower her body temperature slightly) or putting her in a puppy crate (to make her uncomfortable and make it impossible for her to settle down) all sounded too harsh to me so I decided to let things run their course (more or less). I did, after about a week, place a large oblong flower tub in the NEST AREA so she couldn’t settle in there. On more than one occasion she out-witted me by somehow managing to get herself INSIDE the flower tub and settle happily but eventually we managed to find a way to keep her out of the nest area. She then spent all her day settled in the ROOSTNG AREA of the CUBE.
All this meant, of course, that the two Gingernuts could not get access to the NEST AREA either so they took to laying their eggs in the ROOSTING AREA which also meant we lost the occasional egg as it was rammed (probably by Chilli sitting on it) through the bars into the poop trays.
Each day, in the late afternoon when someone got in from work, we would turf Chilli out to make sure she got some food (tempted by treats of corn etc) and water (usually from a puddle rather than the nice fresh water from the Glug). On some days we shut the CUBE door to stop her getting back in for a few hours. She didn't like this at all and made her feelings quite clear.
Finally, last weekend, she started appearing each day all on her own and on Monday she stopped growling when I went near her. By Wednesday she was out and about each morning with the others and appears to be much more her old self. I've removed the flower tub from the NEST AREA and the Gingernuts have returned there quite happily to lay.
Why did I pick today to pass all this on?
Today (17th July) we got our first post-broody egg from Chilli.
It's over - Phew :-)