Broody or no?

[kennethchicken]

i have a hen that I hatched in April and she will not leave the nesting box. She has been in there for almost 2-3 days, and i haven't seen her leave. Is she broody? I am not sure of her breed because she was hatched. I am a new chicken owner and a little worried about her. If she is broody, should i leave her in the nesting box, or take her out so she can eat and drink?I have another hen that has been laying in the dirt because she doesn't have her own eating box, I also have 3 roosters, so some of the eggs are fertilized.

 

[Pork Pie]

I'd say its rather unexpected for a pullet to go broody - but in nature, very little is beyond the realms of possibility.

Does she puff up her feathers and "growl" at you when you approach her? If not, then it may not be that she is broody.

 

[Shezadandy]

I had a barred rock go broody at almost exactly 7 months of age- she did sit on her clutch and hatch and raise them without any issues. But, if you don't have any intentions of giving her fertile eggs and she is truly broody, I would look on the multiple 'how to break a broody' so she doesn't start losing condition for no reason. Is she sleeping in the nest too? If you put eggs in front of her will she collect them and pull them underneath herself?

 

[aart]

Good questions above...I'll add a couple more.

Has she ever laid?
Are you sure she's not hiding from the cockerels?

More info on your flock and coop might help.

 

[carlf]

Sounds broody to me. Give her some un-refrigerated eggs to set, at least 6 (I let mine set 11). You have nothing to lose.
Mark the eggs with a pencil so you can tell if extra eggs get dumped into the clutch.
Remove any new eggs after day 2.
She will get off to eat and drink one or two times per day. No need to help her with this.

My BR Little Hen is broody as it gets, she went broody within a month of first lay and then every 2 months after that. I let her set this spring and she hasn't gone broody since. I think setting a clutch and hatching chicks may have helped work out the "broody impulse".

Broody hens hatching peeps is very cool. And its free peeps. You can add them to your flock, give them away, sell them, etc...

 

[carlf]

Just took another look at the photo. Is she actually in the nest box or just hanging out in the coop??

 

[Shezadandy]

Sounds broody to me. Give her some un-refrigerated eggs to set, at least 6 (I let mine set 11). You have nothing to lose.
Mark the eggs with a pencil so you can tell if extra eggs get dumped into the clutch.
Remove any new eggs after day 2.
She will get off to eat and drink one or two times per day. No need to help her with this.

My BR Little Hen is broody as it gets, she went broody within a month of first lay and then every 2 months after that. I let her set this spring and she hasn't gone broody since. I think setting a clutch and hatching chicks may have helped work out the "broody impulse".

Broody hens hatching peeps is very cool. And its free peeps. You can add them to your flock, give them away, sell them, etc...

We've got an Australorp that just went broody last week - funny that your magic number is also 11 !!!
This one will puff up but unlike the BR that hatched for us back in June, this one so far doesn't bite or growl.

It is so much fun having a "peep squad" running around the flock. Right around the time the last batch stopped peeping I was sooooo hoping another one would set eggs for us.

 

[carlf]

My BR puffed and made all sorts of bada$$ sounds but only pecked me twice. She was a great mom. Hatched and raised all 11.

 

[Shezadandy]

My BR puffed and made all sorts of bada$$ sounds but only pecked me twice. She was a great mom. Hatched and raised all 11.

Nice! It is pretty amazing what they can do. This will be the first time with our own roosters and hens, ups the excitement level!