Addie, one of my year-old Australorps has decided to go broody. No eggs underneath her but she's guarding that imaginary clutch as fiercely as she can! When I dare to go into the henhouse she squeals at me and puffs up to about twice her size.
She doesn't mind if another chicken comes into her nestbox to lay, of course, because the minute the other one lays an egg she pushes it under herself.
I'm not going to bother trying to break her broodiness yet. In the morning when I open the door she rushes out with the other girls, tears over to the food station, gobbles up some pellets, then drinks a whole lot of water. She rushes over to her favourite dustbowl and has a quick bath, then scurries back to her nest. All this time she's fluffed up, ready to warm her imaginary eggs/babies.
The last time I had a broody it was a few weeks ago when Buffy, my Buff Orp decided she was the perfect mother. That lasted for 2 days until she got bored. Actually it's rather nice to see natural behaviour in chickens for a change. My semi-retired Hybrids who are about 3 yrs old (?) have never molted, never shown any broodiness. Everything is bred out of them to turn them into temporary egg-laying machines.
Oh yes, I have 4 boxes for 10 hens but they only use 2 of them. (Monkey see, monkey do.)
She doesn't mind if another chicken comes into her nestbox to lay, of course, because the minute the other one lays an egg she pushes it under herself.
I'm not going to bother trying to break her broodiness yet. In the morning when I open the door she rushes out with the other girls, tears over to the food station, gobbles up some pellets, then drinks a whole lot of water. She rushes over to her favourite dustbowl and has a quick bath, then scurries back to her nest. All this time she's fluffed up, ready to warm her imaginary eggs/babies.
The last time I had a broody it was a few weeks ago when Buffy, my Buff Orp decided she was the perfect mother. That lasted for 2 days until she got bored. Actually it's rather nice to see natural behaviour in chickens for a change. My semi-retired Hybrids who are about 3 yrs old (?) have never molted, never shown any broodiness. Everything is bred out of them to turn them into temporary egg-laying machines.
Oh yes, I have 4 boxes for 10 hens but they only use 2 of them. (Monkey see, monkey do.)
