[themagicaltoad1]

My top hen is broody and she is a really bad tempered old girl when I lift her out of the nest box. She has decided to take her temper out on my gosling who is now about 7 weeks old. She makes a bee line for him and chases him, (with him screaming), around the garden until she corners him and is then really savage towards him. He is terrified of her now, and hides behind a hedge when she's out. His "mum", another bantam hen, has reached the end of her maternal instinct now and doesn't help him. I am hoping it's just because she's broody at the minute that the top hen is behaving like this, so have put her in a cat box with a wire mesh floor to break her broodiness. I've never tried this method before but I know a lot of people on here recommend it. My question is, do I leave her in it at night or do I put her back into the coop for the night? Kevin, the gosling is spending his first night in the big coop with the other hens tonight, they seem to have accepted him ok.

[jhub]

Hello,
You can leave her in cage overnight in the run providing it's fox proofed and sheltered.
Here's some advice from Casey
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=71657.0
Good luck
Jane

[themagicaltoad1]

Thanks for the link, she's in a cage in my utility at the minute. I just hope this does the trick and she leaves the gosling alone once she's no longer broody. I feel so sorry for him, he's like a little lost soul at the minute.