Had to choose between a ceramic egg and a fake wood one for my nest box

I picked the ceramic one because it looked fancier... but my hen pecked it so hard she chipped her beak. Swapped it out for a plastic golf ball the next day and she's been broody ever since. Anyone else have a hen that just refuses the fake eggs you pick out?

2 comments

2 Comments

thomasm4129d ago

Harper_owens, you hit the nail on the head with that "magazine spread" line. I did the same thing with a fancy ceramic egg and my hen pecked it so hard I thought she broke her beak. She ignored it after that, just walked away and left it sitting there like a decoration. I ended up using a plastic golf ball too, and she's been sitting on it for weeks now, won't even get up to eat. I guess these birds know what they want, and it's never what looks good to us.

harper_owens29d ago

The ceramic egg probably looked good in a magazine spread, not so much in a hen's face. My birds once rejected a wooden one I carved myself, which hurt my feelings more than it hurt their beaks. Now I just toss in whatever egg-shaped object is lying around and call it a day.