Broody hen? We're worried about our Rosie!! 🥺

[ChookChook91]

Our Rosie laid her first egg October 26th, so she's roughly only been laying about a month.The last week or so, she's been spending a lot of time in the nesting boxes, whether she lays an egg or not. (Each nesting boxes has a golf ball in it).

We've noticed a lot of feathers in each nest. Rosie does move around between nests, but she does prefer the middle one. When we checked on the chooks last night, all of them were roosting except for Rosie. She was in the nest again. We were quite shocked when we took her out of the nesting box this morning, as her breast area had no feathers! She has laid an egg today, which we removed as we have no rooster. We did carry her out to the run where she stayed a bit eating some veggies scraps, but then went back into the coop & back onto the nest.

Is she brooding? Isn't she too young - after all, she's only been laying a month? We're worried as it is winter. Today it's only +1 Celsius today, and she was shivering when we took her out to the run because of her exposed skin. Is there a way to stop her being broody? Will she be prone to sickness/disease with all of her exposed skin? The coop does have a thermostat in it & we keep it set so it does not get colder than around +10 Celsius at night & on the cold days. PLEASE - I NEED YOUR HELP!!

 

[the3quail]

Sounds like a broody girl. has she been showing aggressiveness? and do you have a roo? if so, maybe give her an egg from a girl your roos has mated with?

 

[springvalley123]

One of my birds did something similar (twice, 6 wks apart) this past June & July, having hatched 8/14 and starting to lay during February. She'd spend most of the day in the nest, and I did notice feathers in the box that were her color. I thought she laid an egg during this timeframe--one of the others lays a similar size egg so I couldn't be 100% sure.

I used a "broody cage"--a wire dog crate with no bedding, just a bowl of food and water. I put it up on bricks so it was off the ground, but out of range for being pooped on by the flock-mates. It worked in a single night, each time. During the daytime portion, I used a shade cloth to keep the sun off her. I suppose since she's used to a controlled temperature, you could put a heating pad alongside the crate for warmth, being sure it does NOT have an auto shutoff. My understanding is that giving her bedding would defeat the purpose of the broody jail and lead to failure of the "broody breaking". I used a bit of corn cob pellets to absorb any spills/poops, and it still worked.

 

[SueT]

I wouldn't encourage her to try to hatch eggs, she's too young. You can try removing her from the nest every time you find her in one and see if that snaps her out of it. Older hens usually need to be 'broken' of their broodiness by putting them in a wire bottom cage for 2-4 days. Your pullet may be easier to break.

 

[ChookChook91]

One of my birds did something similar (twice, 6 wks apart) this past June & July, having hatched 8/14 and starting to lay during February. She'd spend most of the day in the nest, and I did notice feathers in the box that were her color. I thought she laid an egg during this timeframe--one of the others lays a similar size egg so I couldn't be 100% sure.

I used a "broody cage"--a wire dog crate with no bedding, just a bowl of food and water. I put it up on bricks so it was off the ground, but out of range for being pooped on by the flock-mates. It worked in a single night, each time. During the daytime portion, I used a shade cloth to keep the sun off her. I suppose since she's used to a controlled temperature, you could put a heating pad alongside the crate for warmth, being sure it does NOT have an auto shutoff. My understanding is that giving her bedding would defeat the purpose of the broody jail and lead to failure of the "broody breaking". I used a bit of corn cob pellets to absorb any spills/poops, and it still worked.

I wouldn't encourage her to try to hatch eggs, she's too young. You can try removing her from the nest every time you find her in one and see if that snaps her out of it. Older hens usually need to be 'broken' of their broodiness by putting them in a wire bottom cage for 2-4 days. Your pullet may be easier to break.

Thanks SueT. We've been removing her out of the nest everytime we go in there, so here's to hoping she will snap out of it & soon. I do agree, she is too young.

 

[ChookChook91]

Sounds like a broody girl. has she been showing aggressiveness? and do you have a roo? if so, maybe give her an egg from a girl your roos has mated with?

We don't have a rooster. Our 5th chicken (Mosaic one) did turn out to be a rooster so we had to find him another home. She has been showing aggressiveness, puffing up & clucking when we enter the coop. I think she's just to young to sit on an egg, as she only just started laying herself. Plus, no rooster, so no point.

 

[Lovesumchicks]

Yes like everyone is saying you can break her by keep taking her out and try the cage. The cage has worked wonders in my experience.

 

[aart]

The coop does have a thermostat in it & we keep it set so it does not get colder than around +10 Celsius at night & on the cold days.

You keep the coop heated to 10C/50F?!
Not really a good idea, they don't need heat they need lots of ventilation.

Today it's only +1 Celsius today, and she was shivering when we took her out to the run because of her exposed skin.

No, because it's so much colder outside than in the heated coop.

My go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

​

I used a bit of corn cob pellets to absorb any spills/poops, and it still worked.

Better to a wire bottom and raise crate up off the floor.
Keeps the air circulating under them so they can't hunker down and keep that belly warm.

Oh, and.... Welcome to BYC! @ChookChook91
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