good morning all, I wonder if you can advise me please, one of my hens (orpingtons) has been in and out of the next boxes like a yoyo yesterday and today, scratching the bedding about but no egg as yet, I have three girls and they are about 23/24 weeks old and getting redder combs/wattles, this one is making a lot more noise (for the last week or so) and is eating and drinking fine, do hens go in and out of the nest boxes before they start laying, am just worried she cant get the egg out, am probably worrying too much!
Also I am planning on worming them (routine no other reason) and understand they can only have the treated pellets during this time, their run is on paving with a layer of prunings in the base that are changed each week, they nibble at the leaves etc and scratch about in this so it keeps them occupied, would i need to have the pen totally empty for the 7 days when they have the wormer in their feed? they enjoy scratching about in this and it makes poo picking easier, could i put in a really thin layer perhaps?
Right, am gonna go check those nest boxes again.....
Cheers all
Claire