Broody walking weird

[arkk]

We have a hen that has been broody for about a week. We are leaving her be and she is sitting on 3 or 4 eggs. Some are hers and some aren't I believe. This morning was the first time I saw her get off the nest to drink (I'm sure she has before I just haven't seen it). She's walking very strange. Kind of with her legs further apart like a waddle. I've never had a broody before. Is this normal?

 

[Wyorp Rock]

We have a hen that has been broody for about a week. We are leaving her be and she is sitting on 3 or 4 eggs. Some are hers and some aren't I believe. This morning was the first time I saw her get off the nest to drink (I'm sure she has before I just haven't seen it). She's walking very strange. Kind of with her legs further apart like a waddle. I've never had a broody before. Is this normal?

Are you sure she is broody and not sick?
Waddling with legs further apart sounds like she has a bloated/swollen abdomen.
That's a hard one - if she is truly broody, then handling her too much might break her, but then again...if she's not well you need to examine her.

 

[arkk]

I thought she was broody until I saw her walking today. That's when I started wondering. She does have one very large (egg sized) poo in the nesting box with her and I saw her poo very watery today as she was drinking. I will examine her better this evening. She was waddling, but her body position wasn't upright like what I've read about egg-bound hens. It was in a normal horizontal position.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I would check her out then. Feel the abdomen between her legs.
Do you know when she last laid an egg? She may be having some reproductive problems.

 

[arkk]

I don't know. We've just been letting her do her thing thinking she was broody. I have one other hen that is broody also, so I wasn't too concerned until I saw her walking.

 

[aldarita]

Egg peritonitis or internal laying unfortunately is very common in chickens. One symptom is a very distended abdomen and the so called "penguin" walk, they also have very watery poop. The bad news is that there isn't much that can be done once it is present. I have had some of my hens euthanized because of this. It is very sad to see this happen. Let us hope that your hen is having something else but please do check her abdomen and see if it is distended.

 

[arkk]

I checked her better tonight and I think she’s just a broody mess. Under her poofed out feathers is a fairly skinny chicken with a bare chest and no belly issues. There are 15 eggs under her!!! I had no clue!!

 

[Wyorp Rock]

I checked her better tonight and I think she’s just a broody mess. Under her poofed out feathers is a fairly skinny chicken with a bare chest and no belly issues. There are 15 eggs under her!!! I had no clue!!

Well, I'm glad you checked her out.
Are the eggs fertile?
It sounds like other hens are laying eggs in her nest too. You didn't get a count or mark what was originally in her nest?

 

[arkk]

Yes there is a variety of different eggs in there. We have two roosters, so they should be fertile.

 

[Wyorp Rock]

Well, that's a lot of eggs! LOL
Since you checked her out, I would just keep watch on her, see if she's coming off the eat/drink. Midway through it would be a good idea to look her over just to make sure there's no lice or mites, some broodies don't dust bath and seem to get infested.