Need Advice on Broody Hen Sitting on Eggs

[ellefisher]

My poor little man [I'm not sure it is a cock or what breed it might be] survived a hawk attack yesterday evening. Looks like rocky after a fight. 2 black eyes, and a chunk of feathered skin gone from back of his neck. He fought well though. Made so much noise all my girls and my roo came running and hawk was gone.

 

[Kentuckyrain]

My poor little man [I'm not sure it is a cock or what breed it might be] survived a hawk attack yesterday evening. Looks like rocky after a fight. 2 black eyes, and a chunk of feathered skin gone from back of his neck. He fought well though. Made so much noise all my girls and my roo came running and hawk was gone.

So sorry to hear that, hope he makes it through and gets better.

 

[Kentuckyrain]

One of the hatched chicks in my incubator has sticky egg shell on her, I picked it off, looks like all dry and hard, it had zipped last night but had a hard time getting out of the shell with everything all dry inside it, her head is stuck in a down position like how she was in the shell. I tried to lightly wash her, I don't know what to do with her at this point.

 

[Kentuckyrain]

Just an update,, new mama and babies are doing great. They are so cute to watch,,

Unfortunately I had to cull a newly hatched chick, I did lot's of research on here and discovered that it spent too long in it's shell and somehow the head hand grown/infused or something with it down, like how it was in the shell, the toes were curled,, I tried to save it but think I would have been better off leaving it in the shell and not trying to help it, IDK,,

Anyhow, new mama is so happy with babies,,

 

[ChickieChickAv]

Hey all, I could use some advice. I'm quite concerned. I have a small flock of 6 hens, no roosters (no fertilized eggs). However, one of my hens has been sitting on eggs almost all day long. She's not very tame as most of my hens and I believe she is the youngest of the bunch, I acquired them from the previous owner of my house so I don't have any history. I know she's lowest on the pecking order because during feeding time she gets picked at and changed away by the other hens and I often have to distract them so she can eat away from them in peace. She's a good little layer and lays beautiful green eggs and is small and very beautiful. This is new behavior as she's never acted this crazy before and I'm worried, she normally follows the other hens and goes into the coop at night like the rest. The past couple days she hasn't been spending much time off the eggs and I have been ill, I had a miscarriage and have been stuck in bed and my husband has had to tend to them for me (he doesn't know the chickens like I do) when I woke up from pain around 4 am. I started worrying that he didn't lock up the coop so I sent him out to check that they are ok. He called me from outside and told me that our "Gold Nugget" (the young one) is outside and acting "dumb" not going inside. I told him to grab the eggs while he can and try to lure her in with her favorite treat (bread). Nothing worked, she keep running away. I ended up coming outside and she seemed out of sorts and wouldn't even approach me for the food. I'm worried about her. Could anyone shed a little insight on why this may be happening? Is she just backwards on night/day from being on those eggs all day? What could I do to get her back on schedule with the flock? I'm just worried that she's out there alone and a predator could get her. The sun is rising so I figured there's no point to keep fighting with her and just leave her be and soon enough, the rest of them will be out of the coop too. Besides, I'm in too much pain to stay up right now. So worried though! Any advice would be great

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Hey all, I could use some advice. I'm quite concerned. I have a small flock of 6 hens, no roosters (no fertilized eggs). However, one of my hens has been sitting on eggs almost all day long. She's not very tame as most of my hens and I believe she is the youngest of the bunch, I acquired them from the previous owner of my house so I don't have any history. I know she's lowest on the pecking order because during feeding time she gets picked at and changed away by the other hens and I often have to distract them so she can eat away from them in peace. She's a good little layer and lays beautiful green eggs and is small and very beautiful. This is new behavior as she's never acted this crazy before and I'm worried, she normally follows the other hens and goes into the coop at night like the rest. The past couple days she hasn't been spending much time off the eggs and I have been ill, I had a miscarriage and have been stuck in bed and my husband has had to tend to them for me (he doesn't know the chickens like I do) when I woke up from pain around 4 am. I started worrying that he didn't lock up the coop so I sent him out to check that they are ok. He called me from outside and told me that our "Gold Nugget" (the young one) is outside and acting "dumb" not going inside. I told him to grab the eggs while he can and try to lure her in with her favorite treat (bread). Nothing worked, she keep running away. I ended up coming outside and she seemed out of sorts and wouldn't even approach me for the food. I'm worried about her. Could anyone shed a little insight on why this may be happening? Is she just backwards on night/day from being on those eggs all day? What could I do to get her back on schedule with the flock? I'm just worried that she's out there alone and a predator could get her. The sun is rising so I figured there's no point to keep fighting with her and just leave her be and soon enough, the rest of them will be out of the coop too. Besides, I'm in too much pain to stay up right now. So worried though! Any advice would be great

That is odd behavior. She could be broody or sick. Staying outside past dark isn't normal. If she's broody she will puff up and making clucking and screeching noises when removed from the nest. If she's unwell she will be dull and listless. Sorry you are having troubles, both with yourself and your chickens.

 

[ChickieChickAv]

Thank you, I lured her out today for a few minutes with food and tried to let her eat without the other hens chasing her away. She did puff up her feathers as I tried coaxing her out and once she was out she was repreatedly grooming under her wings on each side and then went and drank some fresh water and then went back inside. I'll be sure to lock them all up once everyone is in so she can't wander back out at night. I really hope she isn't sick, she's one of favorites! The coop is due for a cleaning and I will dust it with DE again to make sure they're a no mites or anything happening in there.. I sure hope she's ok and maybe just got confused as I believe she is the youngest one (plus my hubby doesn't know the chicken routine like I do so I know he left they're door open last night..)

 

[ChickieChickAv]

This is her.. She's looking a little thinner though now, getting concerned

 

[ChickieChickAv]

That is odd behavior. She could be broody or sick. Staying outside past dark isn't normal. If she's broody she will puff up and making clucking and screeching noises when removed from the nest. If she's unwell she will be dull and listless. Sorry you are having troubles, both with yourself and your chickens.

Also, are her eggs safe to eat? She's still laying them.. I know that because she's the only one who lays the pretty greenish blue ones, if she's sick should I discard them? When she was out of he coop last night she was runnin and jumping around when we tried to "chase" her back into the coup, it breaks my heart to have to see her frightened but we were only doing it for her safety. I will keep an eye on her tonight and hopefully she goes back to normal but it's staying on the eggs all day that is the consistent part for the past 3 days.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Broody hens will lose weight while broody. If she's laying than she's not broody, she could be starting to go broody. Most sick hens won't lay eggs or if they do they won't be right, so if she's laying nice eggs they are probably fine. Certainly having a new person taking care of them can stress them out. Something might have caused a ruckus last night that caused her to get off the nest, so I would see if it's a problem again tonight.