Broody hen fighting with another hen

[MarieNC]

My two year old BO just went broody a couple of weeks ago. We have no rooster so there won't be any babies but that's not stopping her. I have been taking away the eggs that everyone else is laying and she is basically sitting on an empty nest. A couple of times a day I have been pulling her out of the nest box to make sure she goes outside and gets some food and water. In the last few days I have seen her fighting with our other BO when they are all out in the run together. I assume this has something to do with her broodiness. I have never seen any of our hens fight with one another. What can I do to change her behavior? Will this be something that continues after the broodiness is over? Don't want my girls fighting. It's bad enough that my drakes fight one another (they're in another run).

 

[sourland]

This is normal broody hen interaction. Her demeanor has in part changed te way that her flock mates recognize her; hence, the apparent shuffling of he pecking order. They will resolve this situation.

 

[centrarchid]

You do not need to pull her off nest each day. She will come off for an hour or so at about same time each day to stretch, defecate, eat and drink. She will miss a day or two only when chicks start hatching with is not applicable to your situation.

If broody is confined with another hen in small area, then make it so she has access to some high quality eats away from other hen. Still avoid putting feed near nest as it will attract opportunistic predators to nest site.

In respect to my free-ranging games, fights involving broody hens has someting to do with rank within flock before hen goes broody. Normally a hens rank is preserved when she goes broody. Broody hens are naturally grouchy and willing to fight under conditions not related to rank. When a dominant hen comes off nest, lower hens get out of her way. When a lower ranking hen comes off nest, she will also be inclined to become aggressive but higher ranking hens will be inclined to try and put her in her place. The lower ranking hen being broody will not back down like she normally would.