Chicken scared of broody?

[MuscovyMad]

I hsve 3 hens and for the past 3 months they have been laying well and have laid every egg in the nest boxes provided. However the hen at the top of the pecking order has gone broody and has been sat on the nest all day. I'm not sure but i think one of my other hens is intimidated and doesn't want to lay in the nes box beside her. That is the only other nest box though. So she has decided to start laying in the straw store.

I tried keeping her in the house and run when i caught her in the act of laying. But she just went mental for about an hour. So i let her out and she ran straigh back to her spot and popped out the egg. So my question is how do i get her to start using the box again? P.s i have given the broody eggs to sit on and i son't want to have to move her to her own quarters.

Will it be okay to just let this hen lay in the straw, then when the eggs under the broody hatch and she leaves the nest i can just keep them all locked in the pen and run without letting them free range, so that she has no option but to use the box again?

 

[elmo]

Your hen has good reason to be afraid of the broody! Broody hens can be vicious and can attack anything that comes close to their nest. If you don't isolate the broody, you should at least provide a separate nestbox for the rest of the hens.

Isolating the broody is a good idea for many reasons. If you don't isolate, eggs may be added to the clutch. Then those eggs will begin to develop at a different time than the other eggs in the nest, leading to a staggered hatch. If this hen is the highest ranking hen, the others won't be able to scare her off the clutch, but she will leave the nest for a short period every day to eat/drink/poop, and an egg could be added at this time.

And then when the chicks hatch, it can be very useful to have them in a separate area away from the other hens. Usually a broody will protect her chicks from other hens but accidents do sometimes happen.

 

[MuscovyMad]

I am only letting the broody hatch 2 eggs to get her out of being broody. I heard other ways to get her to stop. Such as making her stand in a tray of water but i thought that was a bit cruel. Plus atleast this way i get more chicks.

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It is the top hen that is broody. If it was the other ones i would have moved her. I don't want to move her now though cause i heard that moving them can cause them to leave their eggs which would be shame.

With regard to added eggs i'm still checking under her every day to make sure it is just the two i want. And i have marked them so i know which two they are.

I have supplied an extra nest box on the other side of the house away from the broody but she doesn't seem interested. The other hen is laying next to the broody fine though.

Although there is a risk for the chicks i would imagine this hen isn't going to let the other two push her around. I can see your point about moving her if she wasn't the dominant one and if she was hatching a proper clutch of eggs and therefore there would be tonnes of little chicks running around her and therfore it would be difficult to protect them all.

I might just build another temporary nest box in the straw store for the hen to use. That way if she is laying in the same place in the store it won't be so bad. Then i can let them all free range when the chicks hatch so they won't be crowded together. Hopefully that should keep them happy.