I have a 7 mo Orpington hen Aoifa who is insisting on sitting in an empty nest all day. She started about 7 days ago, and we took the first 3 eggs. She hasn't laid others. It is cold here (-13F to 14F) so we spent all wk removing her from the nest 3+ times a day. Is she being broody? If we leave her will she lay eggs to sit on eventually? Is she too young to brood?
I'm new here and appreciate any help, thank you.
Do you have other chickens....including a male so the eggs are fertile?
I would advise against hatching in that cold of weather.
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.
If she is broody I would strongly suggest you break her broodiness.
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire(1x2) on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.
After 48 hours I let her out of crate very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate for another 48 hours.
Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor, gives the feet a break from the wire floor and encourages roosting.
