Broody hen loosing weight

[JD123]

Hello All,

I am new to chickens, just got me first chicks this past spring. We have Tetra Tints, which from what I was told, were not likely to get broody. Anyway, one of them went broody about two weeks ago. At first I didn't think much of it but today when I picked her up I realized she has lost a lot of weight, she feels about half the weight of my other chickens. I am assuming the weight loss is due to her not eating because she is trying to hatch eggs rather than eating, she looks perfectly healthy otherwise. I am afraid she may not make it through the winter being so skinny, I live in Northern NJ and we get pretty cold winters, with no fat she may freeze.

I have been taking the eggs from her and taking her out of the nest box and putting her in the run hoping to break the cycle but it is not working.

Any suggestions of what I can feed her to fatten her up? And any suggestions on how to break the broody behavior?

Thanks Much!!!

 

[GAchickennewbie]

I had this issue with my maran earlier in the year.

I removed the nesting box and locked her up in the coop with a wire floor to help her break the broody.

Another technique I did another time she went broody (she's a bit of a snot sometimes-lol) was to bring her inside and put her in a dog kennel. If I remember correctly, I did that more to make sure she had plenty of food and water to help her put the weight back on (she'd lost a good bit of weight herself).

Hope this helps