Broody??

[Sefirothe]

Can a hen go broody with out camping on a nest?

I have a wheaten marans hen that stopped laying, her comb got pale, and she started making the ticking timebomb (or so I like to call them) broody clucks when walking around.

But she has not picked a nest to monopolize. She's still out in the run and eating/drinking and doing normal chicken things.

Is partial broodiness a thing?

 

[HamsHen50]

I have had something similar to this… and the hen died. What does her poo look like? Does it look parasitic or a wacky green colour? We had a Sussex hen acting just like this, so we separated her with a clutch of eggs, and she didn’t touch the egg and passed a day or two later. Hopefully this is not the case for your girl.

 

[Sefirothe]

I haven’t actually witnessed her poop. All the poop under the roosts on the poop board looks pretty much normal if somewhat watery in a couple spots.

But we have had some hot days so they are drinking more plus I’ve been giving them excess cucumbers from my garden so mushy poops aren’t unexpected right now.

I’ll definitely keep more of an eye on her.

 

[DobieLover]

Is partial broodiness a thing?

It sounds like she's exhibiting the early stages of going broody.

Give her a full-blown body exam and make sure she's not becoming thin. You already know that you have normal poops on the boards. One of the best advantages of having boards IMO.

If her physical condition is good and you do not want her to brood go ahead and put her in your broody breaker. She should break relatively quickly in the early stages.

I have had something similar to this… and the hen died. What does her poo look like? Does it look parasitic or a wacky green colour? We had a Sussex hen acting just like this, so we separated her with a clutch of eggs, and she didn’t touch the egg and passed a day or two later. Hopefully this is not the case for your girl.

Sounds like your bird was more exhibiting symptoms of illness. The bright green poop indicates that they've stopped eating and they don't stop eating until they're feeling really bad. Puffed up feathers is another sign that they don't feel well. If her head was tucked in, in addition to the puffed up feathers that's yet one more sign that she doesn't feel well.

 

[Sefirothe]

@DobieLover She’s been doing the broody clucks for about a week or so. There was a day or two where she wasn’t the first one to the treats as she usually is.

But she’s back at bowling everyone over like a steamroller to get to the cucumber slices today. And her face/comb are getting redder again. Still making the broody clucks tho. And no eggs yet. I may just let her go as is and see.

It’s kinda almost nice that she’s not laying. She’s the only chicken I have that seems incapable of laying an egg and not immediately having a massive poop on it right after. It’s kinda nice to not have to clean other eggs and the nest boxes out constantly.

 

[SkyAJK]

Can a hen go broody with out camping on a nest?

I have a wheaten marans hen that stopped laying, her comb got pale, and she started making the ticking timebomb (or so I like to call them) broody clucks when walking around.

But she has not picked a nest to monopolize. She's still out in the run and eating/drinking and doing normal chicken things.

Is partial broodiness a thing?

She just started to warm up her engine.

Some of my broody hens do that before they go full on with the broodiness. They walk about fluff up feather, balloon like, making broody sound here and there, and sometime get aggressive at anyone near by.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yes there's partial broodiness and sometimes they just don't ever go all the way and return to normal, and sometimes they end up fully broody.

Annoyingly I have a hen that no longer lays yet she continues to go broody verrrry slooowly multiple times in spring and summer. She spends weeks casually visiting the nest boxes for longer and longer periods of time before she finally stays overnight and puffs up like a balloon.