non-laying hen acting broody?

milehighchickens

Hatching
8 Years
Jul 20, 2011
3
0
7
so this is the first time i have had chickens and I have a 24 week old ee that has not started laying yet but i found her laying on the golf balls i had in the nesting box. i removed the golf balls because the others know where to lay and now she is laying on nothing and puffing up and screeching at me and the other hens. what do i do and how is she broody if she is not laying
 
How long has she been on the nest like this?

I can tell if they're broody by the next day. Usually if they spend a night or two on the nest, they are broody.
 
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Another way of checking, take her off the nest and set her on the ground. If she just sort of stays there or tries to get back in the nest almost immediately, more than likely she is broody.
 
I take my broodies out of the nest at least twice a day. Usually they flatten out ("pancake") immediately and I have to prod them a bit to get them up and walking around, taking a drink, etc. I think it's probably a bit odd to have one go broody before she has even laid one egg, but chickens are always surprising us. I did have a pullet go broody after laying maybe 6 or 8 eggs.
 
she started yesterday and when i pull her out she flattens out and then as soon as she can she gets right back in the box i have pulled her out three times today and she insists on laying on nothing
 
well i went out and she is finally out of the nesting box and she left behind a tiny little gren egg!!!! i guess she just took a little to get the first one out
 

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