Tab's Flock

[tabs_flock]

If you don't want her to be broody, you'll probably have to break her. Most folks do it by putting them in a dog crate with food and water, something to perch on (luke a piece of wood), and no bedding at all. Leave the crate in the coop, and leave them in the crate for a day or two. The idea is to keep their underside cooled off.

And, boy, does she sound stubborn! Haha!

I'm afraid that's what I'm going to have to do! She spent an hour trying to get into the coop/nesting box after I closed it off and pushed past the Boss Hen as soon as I opened it for the evening sleepytimes. I removed the ceramic eggs, too. Trying to suggest that hey...maybe...no brooding? Just...hang out and do hen stuff?

We'll see hahah! She is very stubborn!

 

[Aunt Angus]

I'm afraid that's what I'm going to have to do! She spent an hour trying to get into the coop/nesting box after I closed it off and pushed past the Boss Hen as soon as I opened it for the evening sleepytimes. I removed the ceramic eggs, too. Trying to suggest that hey...maybe...no brooding? Just...hang out and do hen stuff?

We'll see hahah! She is very stubborn!

Breaking them is better, imo, than letting them brood. They lose weight and lose feathers. They are more susceptible to mites. And they don't lay that whole time.

 

[tabs_flock]

Breaking them is better, imo, than letting them brood. They lose weight and lose feathers. They are more susceptible to mites. And they don't lay that whole time.

She DID lay today. She simply refused to leave the nesting box and kept trying to get back into it. I'm hoping that if I restrict access to the nesting box/coop I'll discourage full-blown broodiness. But she growled at me! I didn't even know chickens could growl! And she did!

Hopefully I caught this at the earliest stage and can dissuade her from 100% broody shenanigans. We'll see how she reacts this weekend and if I have to break her...I'll feel awful but I'll have to do it

 

[Aunt Angus]

She DID lay today. She simply refused to leave the nesting box and kept trying to get back into it. I'm hoping that if I restrict access to the nesting box/coop I'll discourage full-blown broodiness. But she growled at me! I didn't even know chickens could growl! And she did!

Hopefully I caught this at the earliest stage and can dissuade her from 100% broody shenanigans. We'll see how she reacts this weekend and if I have to break her...I'll feel awful but I'll have to do it

It's worth a try!

Yes - they do growl! Here's my first broody:

 

[tabs_flock]

Welp, I'm pretty sure she was/is broody. I took out the fakey ceramic eggs and that has discouraged her from spending the whole day in the nesting box. On the other hand, she is now going to bed....straight into the nesting box. Which causes trouble for the other girls, who lay between 6a-8a because they don't like to share. Right now my new concern is a noise complaint because two of them start screeching as loudly as possible around 6:30a in order to encourage her to move her feathery butt.

(She is disinclined to do so. So far.)

On the other hand, she's eating normally and once I evict her, she behaves like a regular hen. She did stop laying but Daine is probably my least reliable layer and they are still only 8-9 months old so not too worried about it at this time. Thank goodness for a fast resolution!

 

[tabs_flock]

So babygirl (Daine) hasn't laid since breaking her broodiness and now another of my hens isn't laying but everything else is normal. Looks normal. Eating, drinking, foraging...normal. I'm currently attributing it to bad weather/winter but keeping an eye on them.

In other news, I have another cockerel! He's a sweetheart and beautiful and I don't have the heart to give him away. So I'll keep him til the city comes after me which, maybe they won't. Or maybe they will. We'll see. He's about 5 months old and started crowing about a week ago.

The older ladies have started taking note of him but mostly just to bully/push him around. Like if he's at the feeder, they'll chase him off and sometimes I catch them pecking him. But no blood or missing feathers so far. Daine seems to like him quite a bit and has taken to following him around with the younger Easter Eggers. I think it's just pecking order/chicken bullying for now. Including the obligatory chicken picture of Numair (my cockerel) with his ladies (the Easter Eggers).

 

[Aunt Angus]

Lovely chickens, Tab!!! Really beautiful!

Is it possible they are molting? I have 8 laying hens, but only two are laying because the rest are molting. And it's winter - not enough daylight hours.

 

[tabs_flock]

Lovely chickens, Tab!!! Really beautiful!

Is it possible they are molting? I have 8 laying hens, but only two are laying because the rest are molting. And it's winter - not enough daylight hours.

Thank you so much!! These are the 3 newest additions- I still have my others, too!

My oldest hens are 9 months old-- not sure that's old enough for a molt? But it's definitely a possibility! The others are still 4-5 months old and not old enough for laying or molting, I think. Either way, I'm pretty sure the short December days are why the other two stopped laying, but if I see a ton of feathers, I'll know there's also some molting going on!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Thank you so much!! These are the 3 newest additions- I still have my others, too!

My oldest hens are 9 months old-- not sure that's old enough for a molt? But it's definitely a possibility! The others are still 4-5 months old and not old enough for laying or molting, I think. Either way, I'm pretty sure the short December days are why the other two stopped laying, but if I see a ton of feathers, I'll know there's also some molting going on!

I have had a couple of hens molt their first year, but only 2 that I can recall. This is the first year I've had so many hens quit laying. My ducks and my 2 Silkies are still laying like crazy, but no one else is.

Have you ever used supplemental light? I've not because I'm not that worried about it, but I know lots of people do so that they'll get eggs.

 

[tabs_flock]

I have had a couple of hens molt their first year, but only 2 that I can recall. This is the first year I've had so many hens quit laying. My ducks and my 2 Silkies are still laying like crazy, but no one else is.

Have you ever used supplemental light? I've not because I'm not that worried about it, but I know lots of people do so that they'll get eggs.

The only supplemental light I've used is on seedlings so I'll have lots of good transplants for the garden. Considering I now need to think about how to keep seedlings safe from hens who think they are nummy, I haven't really put a lot of thought into hen-proofing the garden (yet). But thus far there has been no supplemental light in either coop or run, which I assume *might* help. I am not so hard up on eggies that I need to invest in artificial light...Yet.