broody hen because of young birds?

[teverngam]

I believe my black australorp has gone broody ( the first of my hens) she is fluffed up and clucking, also pulling neck feathers. My question is, could she have gone broody because i have added four 2 month old chicks to my flock? my other girls ( 7 of them) were a year old in April. I don't have a rooster

 

[Judy]

The indication that a hen has gone broody is that she stays in the nest 24/7, except for one or two brief outings a day to eat, drink, poop and get a little exercise, usually around 10-20 minutes.

 

[appps]

Firstly no they aren't like us and don't go clucky when they see someone else's cute baby

Second I'm not really sure about your description being broody.

When you say she is fluffed up do you mean in the nesting box or just out in the yard?

Same with the clucking. They make clucking sounds when out in the yard but that has nothing to do with being broody. Mine actually became very vocal like that just before they started laying. They will sort of growl at you for want of a better word when in the nesting box and broody though not cluck at you.

And lastly no idea what the pulling feathers out means. Have you actually seen her pull them out or are you assuming that because her neck has suddenly gone bare? My frizzle spent a while as a naked neck during her last moult. The feathers fall out themselves and sometimes it looks weird till they grow back. I've never heard of feather pulling as a sign of broodiness.

If she isn't showing the behaviour the poster above mentioned as well I would say she doesn't sound broody.

She could be fluffing up and vocalizing as a way of making herself look more intimidating to the new arrivals so she can stay above them in the pecking order. My silkie does that when she is in a particularly bad mood lol. She isn't high enough up the ladder to go pecking at the others but she will do her puffed up tough thing. Is this chicken fairly low in the pecking order by any chance?

 

[teverngam]

Yes, she has been on the nest more than usual for her. She was fluffed up like a turkey in the yard but she didn't seem to be worried about the young ones.I think i just couldn't tell that she was fluffed up in the nesting box. The clucking was different from any of their sounds and constant. maybe the moulting is just coincidence. Since i have never had a broody hen or an egg bound hen i typed her behavior into this site and everything seemed to point to broody?
I have seen one of my RIR fluff up in response to one of the cocky acting young ones but this seems different.

 

[appps]

Hmm thing usually says broodie for me is that every time I go to get eggs there they will be on the nest and you rarely see them in the yard.

 

[Paganrose]

My hens will show some of this behavior the week before they decided to go truly broody- and usually spend a few to several hours in the nests, but then don't spend the night on them, but sometimes they will take their time in deciding. The pulling of neck feathers is just odd. Some of my dedicated broody mamas will pull some of the fluff from bellies in cooler weather though.

 

[sourland]

Sounds like early broody behavior to me, and it is coincidental to the new birds being added to the flock. You could always get some fertile eggs for her.

 

[teverngam]

thanks everyone, guess time will tell. I've had my chickens a little over a year and there is always something interesting or funny. all my clients at the beauty shop love to hear the stories and ask about my girls lol.