Brooding after laying a small egg???

[Old Shyster]

Last September my Buff Orpington went broody and wanted to stay in the nest all day. I physically removed her from the nest and then took the nest out of the coop to discourage that behavior. Nevertheless, she stopped laying - probably also due to the days getting shorter, etc. (My other 2 birds stopped laying in October). All the birds started laying again around February 1. Two days ago, however, the Buff laid a small egg (the first time she's ever done that), and then yesterday showed some broodiness - staying in the nest for 2 or 3 hours and not laying anything. Is this anything to worry about? Is she going broody again, after only a month of laying? Is the small egg an indication of anything? HELP!

 

[Judy]

One of the signs of broodiness is not laying eggs. The small egg was probably just a "burp" in the egg laying machinery while she's getting back into laying. 2 or 3 hours on a nest really doesn't mean much of anything in itself; there could be a number of reasons. She might have been having trouble getting that small egg out, for one. Unless she stays there all the time and starts some other behaviors like fluffing up and growling if disturbed, she's not broody.

Of course she could also be in the process of going broody again and just not be there yet.