Does she want to sit on her eggs??

[senorita05]

So I have a black sex link who recently started laying. She has laid 11 eggs so far. She spends most of her day in my backyard and in a coop at night. When she is about to lay an egg she comes and stands at my door to let me know she is ready and usually caws for a little while too. She usually arrives an hour in advance. Once she lays an egg I store it away, so I can collect the entire batch and then let her sit on it. However as of late her behaviour is confusing me so much. She is cawing louder than ever and making different sounds too. She stands near my door but when I bring her in to lay an egg, she just screams even louder. So I let her out, but then she comes back and stands at my door and I bring her in and she does the same thing. This happen 2-3 times.I heard hens get broody before they are ready to sit on their eggs. But because this is my first time hatching eggs, I have no idea what exactly a hen does when she gets broody. All I know is she nestles up and sits there for a while and is hard to remove. Can anyone tell me what my hen is doing? Is she getting broody? And what are the symptoms of a hen getting broody??

Thank you.

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

If you want her to go broody, give her a nest full of fake eggs or golf balls to lay in. They usually don't go broody if their eggs are taken immediately and you can't force them to go broody.
You will want her be broody for at least a few days before giving her eggs so you can see if she's determined enough to set.
Also, an eggs chance of developing (viability) declines after a week, so you don't want to be hanging on to those old eggs while you're waiting for her to go broody.

 

[PunkinPeep]

Are you bringing her in the house to lay her eggs? I might be confused about your description.

In answer to your question, a broody hen will usually stubbornly sit in her normal egg laying place without budging, day and night, whether or not there are eggs in it.

Chickens often make lots of noises before and after laying eggs. If you are actually bringing her in your house to lay eggs, i would suggest setting up a more traditional situation where she can come and go as she pleases to the nesting area.

 

[senorita05]

I placed some golf balls in the nest she lays eggs in initially, but once she started laying consistently, I took them out. What exactly will she do when she gets broody? Well I'm not sure which are the older eggs and which are the newer eggs because I stored them in a basket together

 

[RoostersCrow HensDeliver!]

A broody will hunker down in the nest box for long periods of time, they will "growl" when a human or other chicken gets too close and will usually viciously peck anything that gets within range. Broody hens will usually only leave the nest a few times a day to get food/water and relieve themselves. They will sleep on the nest too.

 

[senorita05]

Well she only uses the nest to lay eggs because the nest is inside the house. But she does peck at the other hens when they get close to her and I have noticed she has also separated herself from the flock and is by herself a fair bit. She gets a bit aggressive with the other hens when it comes to food and her favourite treats. But we recently mixed 2 new hens to with her and our rooster. I just thought that she was not used to sharing because she was the only hen

 

[aart]

Is the nest inside your house?? If so, why?

Nests should be in the coop and accessible to the hens at all times.

Adding chickens to the flock causes stress and adjustment to the pecking order, takes time to let it settle out with no intervention by humans unless there is blood letting.
Have 2 sources of food and water so the new chooks get some too, then let them be chickens and do their thing.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

You may need to allow your hen to live inside your house 24/7 if you allow her to lay there before she will sit there if she will ever go broody.

A black sex linked chicken is a production hybrid chicken and as such the instinct to brood may be bred out of her. Someone besides myself can tell you more about this situation.

If the above is true then you will need either a surrogate mother, or a mechanical hen aka an incubator and a brooder before you can raise chicks from this hen.

Google "how to save and care for hatching eggs" if you are interested in saving her eggs.