Buff Orpington acting weird....

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bscorpio73

bscorpio73

In the Brooder
10 Years
Feb 24, 2009
49
8
32
North Carolina
I have a buff orpingtion that has been laying eggs for about a month now. Last night when I went to close the coop, I saw her in the egg laying box (she usually roosts up on a perch). Went to check early this morning, and she was still there. Around noon, still there, but found no egg underneath her, except a plastic egg that had split open. I took her out, so she would eat and drink. She is still out, but whenever any other chicken comes around her, she gets all puffy, and I have seen the winds lower to ground. Is this normal? I suspect she is broody, but not exactly clear as to all symptoms of this condition. I do have one rooster, that is only 16 weeks old, but have not noticed an action. LOL Please help a newbie chicken owner out, and explain this behavior.

Thanks a bunch.
 
She sounds broody to me. Being a BO I am not surprised. I had one that would brood every chance she got. You have a couple of options. Let her sit and brood some eggs, either ones that you purchase that you know are fertile, or ones from your own flock. You said your roo is young well, this your chance to find out. If you do not want chicks then you need to place her in a cage with a wire bottom so that she gets plenty of air flow. Give her feed and fresh water. This will break her of brooding, usually takes 3 or 4 days depending on how strongly she wants to brood.
 
Quote:
If you decide not to separate her, just make sure you take her off the nest, (I take mine off 3 to 4 times a day) so she can eat and drink, and take her dust baths. Mine stays broody for a couple of weeks. I just let her do her thing, because I don't need the eggs while she's broody. Just to let you know, while she's broody, she will stop laying.
 
Thanks for all of the good info. I went and got some fertile eggs, and put them under her. One of the eggs I got looked as if it was smushed. There were jagged cracks but the membrane was not leaking. I will have to keep a close eye on it. She also layed an egg between posts.
smile.png
It was inside of the plastic egg.
big_smile.png
Left it in the nest, will see if the cockeral is producing.

Thanks again.
 
My buff orpington has been sitting on her eggs for a few days now. She is up in the coop, and there is food and water underneath, inside the run. Will she go out to eat and drink? I have not seen her go out, but I am not watching 24/7. I did give her some food and water this morning, while she sat on her eggs. I don't want to interfere, as I am sure she knows what she is doing, but I don't want to come out and find her dead from starvation and dehydration. She has only been laying for about a month, and this is her first attempt to brood.

Thanks for your replies.
smile.png
 
my BO went broody early too. this was a couple of years ago. she kept laying, but was openly hostile when i tried to collect her egg every day. i finally put day olds under her in the middle of the night and she was a happy mommy. i had to re-home all of my girls a few weeks later due to crappy neighbors (that moved less then a month after making me get rid of my girls) i dont know if she went broody again that year, but it did seem like she was very young...
 

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