Hey all! So, several days ago my young EE (laying for about 2 months now) started staying in the nesting box all day and growling and puffing up any time either of my other two chickens or I got near her. She's been feathering the nest a bit, but still roosts at night. The first day, she still laid but hasn't laid for 2 days now. I've been shooing her off the nest outside of laying time because she won't be hatching any eggs (they're not fertile anyway) and I don't want her to go broody. Outside of not laying, she seems pretty normal now. She is GOING into the nesting box but coming out a short time later on her own. She's eating, drinking and pooping normally. Her comb is nice and red, she dustbathes and forages as usual, but she's not laying. She's been a daily layer since she started laying and I don't know when to be concerned. Was she thinking about going broody and her hormones have made her go off lay, is it normal new layer behavior or is there something that I should be concerned about?
She's acting normal. She's just thinking about being broody.
You said she's been plucking feathers?
Look at her "stomach" area. Broodies pluck feathers there to keep the eggs warm.
If it's bald...She's either right about to go broody or is.
If there are just some feathers plucked....she's thinking about going broody and is "stocking up" eggs.
Has she been laying for Multiple days in a row?
How old?
She's somewhere between 8-9 months old. I got her as a "12-16" week old pullet and the farm didn't have an exact hatch date. She started laying last out of my trio of pullets and has only been laying for a few months now. She's laid nearly daily since she started laying. She seemed very attached to the eggs that had accumulated for a couple of days. There were only about 9 in the box, 6 real, 3 fake. I usually collect daily but didn't one day. I removed all the eggs, even the fake ones and don't want to prevent her from laying in comfort but also don't want her to go broody. Should I allow her access to lay but time her? This is the first time I've had a potential broody on my hands, as I've only been keeping chickens for a little under a year now.
If she does get in a box I wouldn't time her for if she is laying still (sometimes it takes a hen a LONG time to lay) the egg could break inside her or she may suck it back in and not lay of a couple days (had that happen )----I would still allow her access to lay ,though. She's not full-time so I would give her a week or so. If she does become broody- where she doesn't get out except to eat or drink and poo- I would break her.---
Either use a hanging wire cage or if you have time take her out of the box 5 or more times a day till she gets tired and resumes laying.
Or you can wait it out...your choice.
I would look upon this site "How To Break a Broody Hens for more info.
If she does get in a box I wouldn't time her for if she is laying still (sometimes it takes a hen a LONG time to lay) the egg could break inside her or she may suck it back in and not lay of a couple days (had that happen )----I would still allow her access to lay ,though. She's not full-time so I would give her a week or so. If she does become broody- where she doesn't get out except to eat or drink and poo- I would break her.---
Either use a hanging wire cage or if you have time take her out of the box 5 or more times a day till she gets tired and resumes laying.
Or you can wait it out...your choice.
I would look upon this site "How To Break a Broody Hens for more info.
Hey all! So, several days ago my young EE (laying for about 2 months now) started staying in the nesting box all day and growling and puffing up any time either of my other two chickens or I got near her. She's been feathering the nest a bit, but still roosts at night. The first day, she still laid but hasn't laid for 2 days now. I've been shooing her off the nest outside of laying time because she won't be hatching any eggs (they're not fertile anyway) and I don't want her to go broody. Outside of not laying, she seems pretty normal now. She is GOING into the nesting box but coming out a short time later on her own. She's eating, drinking and pooping normally. Her comb is nice and red, she dustbathes and forages as usual, but she's not laying. She's been a daily layer since she started laying and I don't know when to be concerned. Was she thinking about going broody and her hormones have made her go off lay, is it normal new layer behavior or is there something that I should be concerned about?
If she's still roosting at night, leave her be, collect the eggs daily and leave the fakes where you usually do.
Take a look at her belly and vent, look for plucked feathers on belly and any swelling or abnormalities of belly and vent to rule out other problems.
I wouldn't try to restrict her access to nest yet....wait until you're sure she's broody.
If she starts staying on nest at night for 3 nights in a row, then you'll know she's broody and you can break her.
If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.
I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.
