Chicken freak!

[Domestic_goddess]

Okay so the other day, same as any other day........I went to feed, water, get eggs. Well this paticular day my beautiful bared rock hen names, Roxie...threw a complete tantrum when I took her eggs. She was jumping in and out of the nesting box making a lot of noise in protest. So I put the 3(I only think 1 of which was hers) eggs back and she jumped right back in the box and layed on them and actually layed another egg. I don't have a Rooster, never have....I mainly keep my girls for the eggs and as pets. Any one experience behavior like that! I had never seen it before and couldn't get over how funny she was.

 

[Guinea Goonie]

I will tell ya. The chickens are on a roll over here.

They were EXTREMELY active last night. Lots of running and squawking and mating.

They all seemed to be feeling their poultry grain.

I have some very happy chickens and i am darn proud of the flock.
I have worked very hard and fretted over them this long and some times intolerable winter.

Next winter is going to be different. I am going to have a draft free, predator proof and manageable facility for them.

I am going to separate the ones I need to breed true and I am going to spend a lot of time making runs for those I need pure breed stock from

 

[firedove]

tamvan, even hens with no roo can go broody. She is just feeling that biological clock ticking and wants to hatch herself some babies. She doesn't know that her eggs aren't fertile. She may stay broody for a while. Get some wooden eggs, collect the real ones and replace them with wooden ones. Continue to collect new real eggs that she sets herself on. Make sure she gets off her fake nest a couple times a day to eat and drink. I don't know how long she will stay broody, but in the end it will pass.

Of course your other option is to pick up some hatching eggs from someone and put them in with her. Make sure if you do that you mark the hatching eggs and remove any new eggs that are laid, leaving just the hatching bunch. You can never have too many chicks after all, right?

 

[Domestic_goddess]

thanks for the Advice firedove, I'll keep that in mind for the future. I do have the fake eggs now!!! She's doing well, she's actually come out if it, it was only the one day!

 

[cyanne]

Not sure that she will stop being broody if you let her set on wooden eggs either. From what I have read there are several tricks to 'breaking' a broody. One is to put her in a cage with no bedding or nest box for several days, like a dog crate or something of that nature.

The other is to stick ice under her.

Now, my favorite option is just to take advantage of the situation. Just think of all the wonderful breeders on here with fancy chicken breeds...you can order a dozen eggs and let her plop her broody butt down on them and do all the work of hatching and raising them for you!

This is how I ended up with my breeding trio of BBS Orps. My little silkie hen, MuMu, went broody and refused to break so I just bought eggs from Tuffoldhen and stuck them under her. 21 days later...CHICKS! Yay!