Pictures of the Broody Box

So the broody box is all finished and Oliver is nicely settled inside. When switching Oliver over, we did this in a series of steps.

First, get the coop all set up with food and water. She will need a chick feeder and waterer in the coop with her for the first day.

We have the tops open and covered with chicken wire to allow for vetilation. During the switch over, cover all of this with a towel or cardboard. You want the box to be as dark as possible. Close Oliver in the coop for a while. When we did the swap, we did it late in the afternoon, close to nesting. We left her closed in the box until about 9:30 the next morning.

When we let her into the lot portion for her morning constitution, she was aghast to find that she was trapped in the lot, because of this we left the tarp covering the lot until that afternoon. All total, the coop was covered and dark for about 24 hrs.

Keep a close eye on her for the next couple days to ensure that she will continue sitting and will tolerate her new environment.