- Sep 17, 2012
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Okay so I have three hens and one has baby chicks right now because she went broody about a month ago. The other two have been acting odd recently. One is brown and the other is black and they keep on going "broody". Its really weird. They take turns sitting on the eggs but it seems to me like the brown one is much more committed. Anyways, both of them will sit on the eggs whenever they get a chance but the thing is that they are both at the very bottom of the pecking order. So whenever "big momma" comes into the coop with her chicks she bullies whoever is sitting on the eggs near her (90% of the time the brown one who is the absolute lowest in the pecking order). So then the brown one has to leave to avoid being attacked. I decided that since this was happening I could put the brown one in a cage by itself to be broody in peace... The only probably with that is that she hates humans. Out of all of my chickens, she is the most skittish and untrusting. So today I set up a cage with food and water and bedding for her. I went out when it was dark and she was sleeping. Big momma was now sitting on the eggs along with her chicks and the brown one was huddled in a corner sitting on bedding. She still appeared to be broody so I grabbed her up really quick and put her in the cage, but
I still had to get the eggs. So I lifted up big momma and pulled them all out and I put them in the cage with brown chicken. But as I was doing that, brown chicken ( who was very distressed) escaped from the cage and ran back into the coop. By this time, all of the chickens were awake and probably distressed. I spent 5-10 minutes trying to catch her. Meanwhile, there were still a couple of eggs in the coop, and when I looked back in, the third hen was sitting on them contently. Anyways, I finally caught brown chicken and put her in the cage with the eggs. She was very upset- understandably. In the morning I will check on her again, but I have a bad feeling that I broke her of her broodiness, but
i guess I will see. Any advice would be great on this topic. Thanks!
I still had to get the eggs. So I lifted up big momma and pulled them all out and I put them in the cage with brown chicken. But as I was doing that, brown chicken ( who was very distressed) escaped from the cage and ran back into the coop. By this time, all of the chickens were awake and probably distressed. I spent 5-10 minutes trying to catch her. Meanwhile, there were still a couple of eggs in the coop, and when I looked back in, the third hen was sitting on them contently. Anyways, I finally caught brown chicken and put her in the cage with the eggs. She was very upset- understandably. In the morning I will check on her again, but I have a bad feeling that I broke her of her broodiness, but
i guess I will see. Any advice would be great on this topic. Thanks!
