I think broodiness is contagious, it must spread through the air or something. I just had all three of my laying hens go broody in the last couple of days. I noticed I was getting one less egg than I ought too and just thought a hen was taking a break, went out their today and it was like walking into a wasps nest. I was growled at by all three birds, and the roosters sent alarm calls out and growled back and forth at each other all day. The coop is just broody hell right now. The hens aren't happy and the roosters aren't happy because the hens aren't happy. LOL My rare breed hen got her nest box taken away so she is on wire. I need to break her broodiness because I'm trying to set all her eggs(of course). I took her nestbox away and she decided she was going to hatch the brick that holds her water dish. But the other two are fighting over who's going to be the one to hatch the eggs in the community nest. The bigger hen is blown up like a tom turkey on display, wings draggin ground, tail fanned out, feathers puffed, hackles raised, she is even crouched like she's ready to attack and everything. I thought she was going to attack anything that moved. She was growling and glaring at absolutely everything(me, the other hens, the birds in the coop next to her, the roosters, you name it. If all three going broody simultaneously isn't crazy enough for you, two of the three are Black Sexlinks!! They aren't suppose to go broody! They are a production hybrid. You gotta be kidding me! Their biological clocks are ticking, they have a few months to go before they hit two. Eggs, eggs, I need eggs ladies.. Go broody once you burnout.. *sigh* The other crazy thing.. I just got done hatching the majority of my eggs for the season, so these girls broodiness is most likely going to be wasted. The two hens fighting over who has the right to hatch are hatching the very rare and almost impossible to hatch golfballs..... My whole flock got bit by the broody bug and nobodies happy.. Who knows in the end I might end up with a new brick baby and three golfball biddies... -Kim
