Broody behavior?

[LittleMissCountry]

I have a buff orp that is almost 6 months old. She has been laying for about a month now, regularly.

Yesterday, she sat in the nesting box for 3 hours, and when we went out, she would puff all her feathers up and stick her backside in the air and trill at us. She doesn't peck at us, but definitely looks like she wants to. My daughter reached under her from the back and pulled out two eggs...hers and a previous layer. About ten minutes later she got out of the nesting box.

Today, she did the same thing with puffing up all her feathers. I reached under her and grabbed out one egg, but it wasn't hers. So I took out the fake egg as well and put it in the other nesting box. I went back three hours later (she had already been sitting for over an hour previously) and she had moved all the fake eggs from the other boxes into her box and had laid her egg. She puffed up and trilled at me, but didn't attempt to peck as I got all the eggs out. Later, she left the nesting box.

Is this just normal behavior, or is she starting to go broody? We don't want her broody, as we don't have a rooster

 

[aart]

Sounds pretty broody to me....or well on her way to it.
Does she spend the night on the nest?
Is she still laying?
Just keep tossing her out of the nest after she's laid..
....or set up a broody breaker and put her in there.
Pullets can be pretty easy to break, IME.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Sounds pretty broody to me....or well on her way to it.
Does she spend the night on the nest?
Is she still laying?
Just keep tossing her out of the nest after she's laid..
....or set up a broody breaker and put her in there.
Pullets can be pretty easy to break, IME.

She hasn't been sleeping in there, unless she goes in there after I check on them at night. I know she laid yesterday and today. I will keep tossing her out. A broody breaker is a wire bottom cage off the ground, right?

 

[aart]

A broody breaker is a wire bottom cage off the ground, right?

Yep.
Best to keep it in the coop or run.
I usually let them out an hour before roost time and close off the nests,
then put her back in after dark...I do that a for a couple-few days...then let out with nests open see if she goes to roost or nest. Re crate as necessary.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Yep.
Best to keep it in the coop or run.
I usually let them out an hour before roost time and close off the nests,
then put her back in after dark...I do that a for a couple-few days...then let out with nests open see if she goes to roost or nest. Re crate as necessary.

View attachment 1510854

Thanks! I have a crate that should work, but hopefully just taking her off each day will work first

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Sounds pretty broody to me....or well on her way to it.
Does she spend the night on the nest?
Is she still laying?
Just keep tossing her out of the nest after she's laid..
....or set up a broody breaker and put her in there.
Pullets can be pretty easy to break, IME.

I have taken her off the nest so far after she lays her egg. Today, she waited until this afternoon to lay, and grabbed the fake eggs again. I am still waiting for her to lay, but took the fake eggs out. Since they are all laying now, we don't necessarily need them, right?

 

[Chick-N-Fun]

I would no longer use the fake eggs, as she will continue to sit on them. Once a hen goes broody she will stop laying.

 

[LittleMissCountry]

Well she hasn't laid today, which isn't worrisome as she has been fairly regular lately, so it is probably time to miss a day, but she keeps going back to the nest, no matter how many times I take her out. There are no eggs in it now. I had all the chickens out for the past three hours, and she was walking around with the others, but when they went back in the run, she ran to the coop and back to the nest. Looks like I will be getting the crate out.