Recognizing egg binding vs stress

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Amina

Amina

Songster
7 Years
Jul 12, 2013
508
51
156
Raleigh, NC
When my husband and I got home today (around 6:10), we noticed that one of our hens was in the nest box. She is still there and it's getting dark. The last couple times I checked, she was squatting, not sitting in the box, which makes me think she's probably not going broody (do you all agree?). She seems alert, and she's not puffed up or otherwise ill-looking. Does it sound like she is egg bound? Broody? A third possibility is that she's avoiding my two cockerels, who are almost 13 weeks old and starting to become interested in mating. I have not seen them really be brutal about it, nor have I seen any feather damage on the hens, but maybe she is just sick of them anyway.

How would you distinguish between these possibilities? What would you do in this situation?

Thank you!
 
How would you figure out for sure if she's broody vs one of these other possibilities?

I just took her off the nest and felt around back there for a stuck egg. I didn't feel anything, but I only felt from the outside. So I put her on a roost and brought the rowdiest of the two cockerels inside so she doesn't have to deal with him. Does that sound good? I guess if she's back on a nest tomorrow, then that would mean she's probably broody?
 
No, the cockerels are 13 weeks. This hen is a little over 2 years old. So broodiness is a possibility, but I don't think she's ever been broody before...
 
Broody hens will growl at you as you approach them. They will take any eggs placed in front of them, and roll them under them. They will sit there in a trance most of the time. They will lay an egg or two before they stop laying altogether. And when you remove them from the nest and take them outside, they may just sit there for a few seconds, then will make a bee-line back to the same nest box, unless they stop to have a humongous smelly greenish broody poop.

You can check her for a stuck egg with a rubber glove, and insert finger an inch or so inside the vent. If you feel an egg, give her some calcium (crushed egg shells, Tums, calcium tablet, oyster shell) and then a shallow warm soak for 30 minute while massaging her lower abdomen.
 
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She is an easter egger. She doesn't growl at me or peck if I bother her on the nest, but she does protest a bit. Then again, she absolutely hates anyone touching her, and she always protests if you bother her while she's laying an egg, or if you touch her, period.
 
Eggcessive said:
Broody hens will growl at you as you approach them. They will take any eggs placed in front of them, and roll them under them. They will sit there in a trance most of the time. They will lay an egg or two before they stop laying altogether. And when you remove them from the nest and take them outside, they may just sit there for a few seconds, then will make a bee-line back to the same nest box, unless they stop to have a humongous smelly greenish broody poop.

You can check her for a stuck egg with a rubber glove, and insert finger an inch or so inside the vent. If you feel an egg, give her some calcium (crushed egg shells, Tums, calcium tablet, oyster shell) and then a shallow warm soak for 30 minute while massaging her lower abdomen.
Click to expand...
Just because they growl does not mean they are broody.I have had SEVERAL hens growl at me,but they never sit they lay their egg and go.But do you think my 1 year olds would try sitting?they just recently turned a year about a month ago.Maybe 2.
 

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