Can anyone tell me the diffence between broody and egg bound?

[ldutch123]

I have a salmon favorelle who has been sitting in the nest box for 2 days and doesn't seem to move much. When I pulled her out of the box she threw a fit but no pecking she just didn't want to be picked up. I have one hen who is really dehydrated so I wanted to make sure this one wasn't going the same route( it has been in the 90's all week).

When I set her down she ran outside and got a drink and her tail was up. There are no eggs under her though. My layers are all about 9 months old now. I can't tell who is laying and who isn't because I have 40 girls that free range. I also put on a rubber glove with some oil and tried to feel for something and sh didn't like that at all but I didn't feel anything?


So whats the key difference between going broody and being egg bound? I can't tell and I really like this girl. She is my only faverelle and I typically just let them be and do their thing but I'm wondering if I should interveen?

 

[Habibs Hens]

when a chicken is egg bound she will be low to the grown and very waddly not being able to walk and will be going in and out of the nest box trying to lay and failing

broody is the other end of this expilation

anothe rissue could be what 1 of my hens has that is a problem with ovary so she will lay with days of long gaps

the longest was 7 days

she lays fine just not often

 

[ldutch123]

Thank you for your reply. This is new for her. I am out there every afternoon to gather eggs and I almost never see her in there. She gets around fine and eats when I hand it to her but she isn't leaving the box. If she was going broody wouldn't there be some eggs under her??? She is laying on nothing.

But in saying that when I dug through the straw I found an egg buried. I don't know how long it had been the I just assumed it got uried by accident cause they like to move the straw around.

Wouldn't I have felt an egg if there was one? Or could it be real high up there?

I thank everyone for any advice u can provide

 

[sourland]

Hens do not need a clutch of eggs to go broody. What you are describing is typical broody behavior.

 

[ldutch123]

Last night I kept her in a pet taxi because I thought oh no she is egg bound and in the morning man she about busted the door down to get out.

So I ask how does a broody hen Not Get dehydrated or starve if she doesn't eat or drink. The heat is bad here

 

[sourland]

Most broody hens will leave the nest once or even more times daily to drink, eat and defecate. Some will overdue things, but in MY experience they have been in an absolute minority. One mistake some make is providing food and water that a hen can reach from the nest. This frequently results in hens defecating in and fouling the nest site.

 

[ldutch123]

Ok so I am going to post pics of her. If u can tell me what u think. She kinda fluffs up but I can take her out of the box and she will eat some and drink and right back in, this will be really cool if she is broody because that would be a first for any of my hens!!

 

[ldutch123]

That's it!!!! I think she is being broody but had no eggs under her cause I took them! I feel this is the case because I put a few eggs in there with her and she PUSHED THEM UNDER HER!! this is exciting to me cause I have never had a broody!

So I have a question......did she just decide to go broody because about 3 weeks ago I moved some 4 week old chicks in a departed part of the same coop as my layers? Did this cause her to get the mommy instinct???

 

[sourland]

The behavior is coincidental to adding the chicks to your flock.