Broody behavior?

[Smileybans]

Is backing up, head down butt in the air, part of being broody? I have a hen who hasn’t laid in a couple days. Before then she was a consistent layer. Her other symptoms are consistent with being broody. She lays flat if I take her out of her cage, a broody breaker, and she does cluck around. Constantly. I thought she was just talking but then she didn’t move out of her nest for a day. She doesn’t do a defensive stance in the nest however. It just seems to be one when she’s walking. But not always.

Shes a paint satin and only started laying a couple months ago. I am unsure of how old she is but theres a thread on here following her as she grows. A silkie week by week thread. I can try and get a video of her if it’ll be helpful.

 

[azygous]

It does sound like the behavior of a broody. The one big clincher is if feathers are missing from along the sides of her keel bone. If this little gal is bare-breasted, she's probably broody.

Be sure she's in the cage day and night with no nesting material at all. Air must circulate freely under her to cool her down so the broody hormones will stop flowing. You should see her return to normal within three days. The test is if she resists returning to the nest when let out of the cage.

 

[Smileybans]

She is in a cage day and night but is it alright if i let another chicken in with her at night? She has a friend and he doesn’t like to sleep without her. He has actually been very confused as to why she is just sitting in the cage all day long. The cage is a rabbit cage. Or one of the cages with the plastic tray under it but i lost the tray. Air can still flow with newspaper under there right? Or should i lift the cage up to promote more airflow?

 

[azygous]

The more airflow the better. And yes, she can have a roommate if she'll put up with him.

 

[Smileybans]

The more airflow the better. And yes, she can have a roommate if she'll put up with him.

She puts up with him. She puts up with a lot and doesn’t act like all the other broodies I’ve had. But they’ve all been silkies so far.

 

[nuthatched]

If she's acting like a mini turkey, she's a moody broody! One of my australorps did this, she wouldn't set too long but she go charging around the run, completely fluffed up, tail fanned, bowling through other hens and chasing the rooster.

 

[Lizzy733]

Definitely sounds like those silkie genes are going strong. I never had much luck breaking my broody, she is too persistent. Most importantly, she needs to be getting off the nest regularly to exercise and eat. If you do let her brood, give her eggs or just find her refusing to break, just make sure to kick her off the nest twice a day for self-care - where she doesn't jump right back on again. It took my girl about a year and two clutches to figure out how to do this herself where I didn't have to intervene. Hopefully you'll have better luck breaking her than mine.

 

[Smileybans]

If she's acting like a mini turkey, she's a moody broody! One of my australorps did this, she wouldn't set too long but she go charging around the run, completely fluffed up, tail fanned, bowling through other hens and chasing the rooster.

Shes a little more timid than that. But recently has been more fluffy and crazy. She’s been flapping her wings and yelling a bunch when she does.

@Lizzy733 I’m hoping to break her. It’s winter here and i have had no luck with hatches so far. At some point i want to hatch her eggs but i have someone who is currently interested in buying her eggs and she isn’t laying. She decided to boycott all that egg laying business. I do leave the door to her cage open for a couple hours a day but she refuses to leave most of the time. When i do remove her she follows her boyfriend around and then sits on the floor all fluffed up.

 

[Lizzy733]

Shes a little more timid than that. But recently has been more fluffy and crazy. She’s been flapping her wings and yelling a bunch when she does.

@Lizzy733 I’m hoping to break her. It’s winter here and i have had no luck with hatches so far. At some point i want to hatch her eggs but i have someone who is currently interested in buying her eggs and she isn’t laying. She decided to boycott all that egg laying business. I do leave the door to her cage open for a couple hours a day but she refuses to leave most of the time. When i do remove her she follows her boyfriend around and then sits on the floor all fluffed up.

Yes, broodys go off the lay while trying to set, but it also may be winter... Hens will go off the lay once the daylight hours shorten. If you want to try to stimulate her to lay through winter, you'll probably need to add artificial lighting too.

 

[Smileybans]

Yes, broodys go off the lay while trying to set, but it also may be winter... Hens will go off the lay once the daylight hours shorten. If you want to try to stimulate her to lay through winter, you'll probably need to add artificial lighting too.

My mom said the same thing. But she only started laying a couple months ago. Would she stop because of winter? She’s also in the house. She lives inside with a special needs rooster. Would the lighting in the house effect her egg laying?