Broodie?

[Capt Mike]

Hi, I am fairly new to chickens, I have a hen that's acting odd trying to determine if shes broodie or sick. She is lethargic, I can't tell if she is eating or not, Eyes are clear and I don't see anything obvious, I am watching more closely. She is as digging in the nesting box, and started sleeping in it last night. When I opening the coop this morning she came out, I added a floor level box and she went back in and started sitting in in the box for a few hours at a time. I added some eggs to the nest hoping she would sit longer but shes not. I am not sure how the Broodie act, I would have thought she would not move off the nest. Shes a RIR/RIW mix. There is a RIR roo in there so the eggs should be fertile. oh and the other thing is there are 6 of them in there, I was getting 5-6 eggs a day, now 2-3....

 

[sourland]

It sounds like pre broody behavior. If she starts staying in the nest full time you can give her some eggs.

 

[aart]

My go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.