Worried about one of my Chickens

[alisonanne]

HI, I have 5 chickens, I used to have 6 but one broke her leg so we had her put to sleep.
The others are all fine apart from 1, I can't get her out of her nesting box. When I do lift her I find eggs under her, I can't tell if any of them are hers. My chickens are egg layers, no Rooster. The others are all fine, eating, digging and drinking. They are spoilt but not unhealthy. They live in a large Chicken Hotel, it should hold 10 chickens but I found 6 was ok, but I can see me getting another 4 later on in the year. They have an outside run, swing and water/food constantly.
So anyone, any idea as to what's up with my chicken?

 

[SpaghettiJo]

She's probably broody..
https://www.mypetchicken.com/backyard-chickens/chicken-help/What-does-the-word-broody-mean-H84.aspx
http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/what-exactly-is-a-broody-hen-and-how-to-stop-it/
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-break-a-broody-hen.181289/

 

[lazy gardener]

Does your coop have at least 4 s.f./bird and run have at least 10 s.f./bird? While she may be broody, there is the off chance that she is sticking to the nest to avoid pecking order conflict. If she is broody, it's important that you break her soon. The longer you allow this hormonal condition to persist, the more difficult it will be to break. Broodiness takes a heavy toll on a chicken's health.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

PROBABLY broody.

Agreed, it's best to break as soon as you can unless you plan to give her fertile eggs or adopt chicks.

 

[alisonanne]

Thank-you for your advice. I dust the girls to make sure they have no mites. But when I checked the broody one, she's lost a lot of feathers on her underside.
I put her outside with the others and gave them all some grapes. I left her in with the others and she was fine. I'm going to check in 5 mins and if I have to move her out off her nesting box I will. I would block her one but the nesting boxes are up where they roost. I can close the top area during the day though.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Thank-you for your advice. I dust the girls to make sure they have no mites. But when I checked the broody one, she's lost a lot of feathers on her underside.
I put her outside with the others and gave them all some grapes. I left her in with the others and she was fine. I'm going to check in 5 mins and if I have to move her out off her nesting box I will. I would block her one but the nesting boxes are up where they roost. I can close the top area during the day though.

Broody's will often pluck themselves to fluff their nest up or maybe to be warmer for the eggs. Those are the ladies that get adopted chicks the easiest because I thought it showed a degree of commitment.

What do you dust with?

Nesting boxes should be lower than your roost or you may end up with lots of birds sleeping in them. For a broody hen, blocking just 1 box will usually send her to the next box of her choice.

How long has your hen been staying in the box? Does she puff up at you or flock mates, make a crazy shrill warning call, or a weird broody cluck? My Marans hens actually do the opposite and become much calmer than their usual demeanor. Oh... let's not forget the nasty broody poos that come along with the condition. Smelled one of those yet?! A broody will not usually poo in the nest, but when she drops it outside it'll almost knock ya over. These are all good signs that broody is your issue. Some don't take place until a couple days into broodyness.

Please note that broody is a hormonal thing. A hen does not need a rooster, fertile eggs... or really even eggs to become broody. A broody hen will fluff up an empty nest and hunker right down to brood air even. Breed can be a factor. It's actually fun to stick our hand under and feel the hen use her wings to tuck our hand in as if it were some more eggs!

You might be able to break her by just kicking her out often. Some of my girls HAVE to spend 7+ days in a wire bottom breaker before showing any sign of relenting. One I think might actually be happy to brood in there.