This is hilarious! Thank you for sharing and giving me a good laugh :) I once had two hanging flowers on my balcony with a bird feeder hanging between them. Apparently a mother house wren thought it was an ideal set up because she built a nest in one of my hanging plants! Unlike Mildred, she didn't disturb the flowers. When I had to water the plant, I had to knock on the pot first. She would exit and I would carefully water around the eggs and then the baby birds under her watchful eye. When they grew up and flew the coop, I missed those little guys!

I had the wooden nest boxes first, that were enclosed on all sides except the front (as you see in the pic above, I just lifted the fabric to snap the pic). Once the hens got used to laying in the boxes, and I realized that they really would prefer something not as open, I simply stapled the curtain of landscaping fabric over the front and cut a slit up the center of each box. The fabric I used is the heavy stuff with the really open weave (I think it's actually more of a shade cloth), so it still lets in some light & air, while giving the hens the illusion of privacy and 'hiding' their eggs. After a while, the hens coming and going made the edges of the fabric curl so that it formed a little 'V' shape, as you can see in this picture--look at the wooden boxes on the bottom: I'm considering changing the fabric as the weather this year has really given it a beating and it's nasty-looking. Also, the hens love their new 'Hi-Tech' nests, as well! :) Yes, those are computer monitor cases! Velvet ~:>

Waterfowl eggs take 31 days to hatch. I recentlyhad 4 chicken eggs hatch 5 days later than the rest of the batch and they were ok

I had a piece of window glass and built a box out to used 1/2" plywood using the glass as the top. The front side hinged down. About 2 1/2" off the floor was a 1/4" wire mesh. The moisture supplied by a casarole dish under the mesh. At the top of the box was a light fixture at each end. 40 watt on one end, 60 watt on the other. An exterior thermometer (the kind that has the prob on the end of a wire) was wired to the mesh so that the top of it was level with the top of the eggs. At the back between the bulbs was a waffer thernstat I ordered from Strombergs. I heated the box, put in the eggs and watched the thermometer so that I could adjust the thermostat accordingly. Turned the eggs every four hours (3 o'clock and 11 o'clock). On the 15th day I soaked each egg for 30 seconds in a deep bowl of warm water, once a day. As the embryo developes, the eggs will bob in the bowl of water. Don't throw any that don't bob, they like to play with you even at this stage. I have raised ducklings for a few years with this old box of wood, glass, wire and light bulbs. Went through a day of no electricity. These little guys are tough. There are two problems that I have had with ducklings. One is an electralite imbalance. Not the whole batch, just 1 or 2 birds will stiffen out like a rubber chicken. Go to the feed store and get the water additive for wild game birds. The second is a problem with a drake. If you have a drake in your flock, pen him or the young to keep them apart. The drake will break their necks and you will find little bodies thoughout your yard. As soon as they get big enough so that the drake can't lift them off the ground they will be safe. Just wanted you to know that your grand gramma raised birds under the wood stove and didn't need an expensive box to do it. It's all what you feel you can handle.