Broody hen being bullied

AnyaWinters

In the Brooder
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Hi, I have 7 hens and 1 rooster all 7-8 months old. This is my first flock. One of my Cinnamon Queens decided to sit in one of our 2 avaliable nesting boxes. For about a week now we have been removing any eggs she was sitting on, making sure she got food and taking her out at night to put on the roost. She has not pecked at us and even lefts me pet her but she will fluff up and bawk before I sooth her and then pick her up. My problem is that when checking her over there is a fresh bald spot with some bruises on her neck. We figured it was our rooster and was keeping an eye on her but the next day she had a featherless spot just above her eye. We made her a good size enclosure in the run and put her in it yesterday but she pulled a Houdini and squeezed through somewhere. By the time we got back put her inside at night she had another new smaller bald spot on her neck and small blood spots on her comb and earlobe. While we investigated we caught the rooster grabbing her neck feathers. We put her in a large dog crate for the night and thought we secured the enclosure to try again today to separate her but not an hour later we checked and she was out again and panicking running from the others while one of the hens got ahold of her tail and got a couple feathers. The bullied one is actually seeking out me and my daughter for safty when she sees us.

I've heard about and looked up broody jail but what do I do if she is getting bullied? Will things go back to normal when she starts laying again? Should I keep her in the dog create full time? Should I build a more permanent small broody run?
 
It is very normal for the flock to give broody hens a hard time. Their behavior is abnormal as far as they are concerned. They've never seen it before.You don't yet have a broody hen. But you do have a broody pullet. Your cockerel going after her is because he just doesn't know any better at this point in his learning.

I suggest that you invest in a small all wire dog crate, elevate it, put a flat board in the bottom of it for her to sit on, put in a secured food dish and water bottle, lock her in the broody breaker and do not let her out for a minimum of 3 days and 2 nights. She will obviously need to be kept in a secure place. She should be kept within the flock if at all possible. She should not be allowed to have any bedding with her at all as that will encourage nesting.

At the end of her jail sentence, let her out about 1 hour before they normally go to roost. If she roosts, then she's broken and she will integrate back into the flock, more than likely, without issue. If she goes back to the nest box, put her back in the crate for another night and another day and try the next evening. Keep putting her back in until she roosts with the flock when released.
 
Hi, I have 7 hens and 1 rooster all 7-8 months old. This is my first flock. One of my Cinnamon Queens decided to sit in one of our 2 avaliable nesting boxes. For about a week now we have been removing any eggs she was sitting on, making sure she got food and taking her out at night to put on the roost. She has not pecked at us and even lefts me pet her but she will fluff up and bawk before I sooth her and then pick her up. My problem is that when checking her over there is a fresh bald spot with some bruises on her neck. We figured it was our rooster and was keeping an eye on her but the next day she had a featherless spot just above her eye. We made her a good size enclosure in the run and put her in it yesterday but she pulled a Houdini and squeezed through somewhere. By the time we got back put her inside at night she had another new smaller bald spot on her neck and small blood spots on her comb and earlobe. While we investigated we caught the rooster grabbing her neck feathers. We put her in a large dog crate for the night and thought we secured the enclosure to try again today to separate her but not an hour later we checked and she was out again and panicking running from the others while one of the hens got ahold of her tail and got a couple feathers. The bullied one is actually seeking out me and my daughter for safty when she sees us.

I've heard about and looked up broody jail but what do I do if she is getting bullied? Will things go back to normal when she starts laying again? Should I keep her in the dog create full time? Should I build a more permanent small broody run?
I agree. Keep her in a cage as instructed until she goes to roost at night.If she tries to go back on the nest return her to the cage.
 
It is very normal for the flock to give broody hens a hard time. Their behavior is abnormal as far as they are concerned. They've never seen it before.You don't yet have a broody hen. But you do have a broody pullet. Your cockerel going after her is because he just doesn't know any better at this point in his learning.

I suggest that you invest in a small all wire dog crate, elevate it, put a flat board in the bottom of it for her to sit on, put in a secured food dish and water bottle, lock her in the broody breaker and do not let her out for a minimum of 3 days and 2 nights. She will obviously need to be kept in a secure place. She should be kept within the flock if at all possible. She should not be allowed to have any bedding with her at all as that will encourage nesting.

At the end of her jail sentence, let her out about 1 hour before they normally go to roost. If she roosts, then she's broken and she will integrate back into the flock, more than likely, without issue. If she goes back to the nest box, put her back in the crate for another night and another day and try the next evening. Keep putting her back in until she roosts with the flock when released.
Exactly what has worked 100% for all of my broodies.
 
Should I build a more permanent small broody run?
This is ours, and similar to what @DobieLover and many folks use for broodies. I have a lot of silkies so anywhere between one and five are broody at any given time. This jail is inside our breeding coop.

Water is a nipple bottle. If you rather a waterer, be sure to secure it so they don't knock it over. Same with the food. Ours is a stainless steel little bucket with hooks, but we've used others and just tie them to the cage so they can't spill.

Only give them at most a 2x4 to roost on. Four days usually is all it takes, sometimes five, and we have one that spends more time in there than out.

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Thank you everyone! She spent 4 nights in the large dog cage I scored from the thrift store. We couldn't keep her in the coop because it was too hot and when we tried the cage in the run the others kept trying to peck at her through the bars making her panic. We did manage to securely section off a little bit of our run and she spent the days in there. She easily went back in the cage at night, even trying to get back to me when I tried to have her roost on night 3. Day 5 we hung out with her out with everyone and there was no squabbling!

She has been so sweet with me since. The others are still a little skittish when we go to handle them but she let's me inspect her plucked spot and pet her without backing away. ❤️
 

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