goin broody?

[steve2495]

my one cochin banty just hatched some eggs for me and is now raising the cutest babies

but know my other hen has been staring at the hen and babies and is taking hours to lay her egg for the past few days. while she is on the nest she acts as if she is broody. sticking her neck feathers up and making that bizzarre sound if u get too close. however she has still been laying and after a few hours she forgets about it and gets off the nest. my other hen was acting alot like this before she went broody. so do hens do this before they go full blown broody? if she is going broody thatll b her second time this year and she isnt even year old yet i think she is only 8 months old!! if she is broody i am very excited and will get her those serama eggs ive been wanting

 

[Sunny Side Up]

There's a good chance your young hen is considering going broody again. They'll take the time to lay their clutch, one egg a day, before settling in to incubate 24/7. You'll want to wait until that time before moving her to her broody cage, and then wait until she's good & settled before trusting her with special-order eggs.

Because this could also just be her particular egg-laying habit. She's still young & may not clearly hear what the voices in her head are saying to her...

 

[Ducklove334]

hmmmmm...

our Buff orp did that yesterday, she added her egg to the growing pile I'm leaving out there LOL (probobly over 30 now LMAO), she was on the nest for a good 4 or 5 hours!, she didn't growl, but just stared into space. then left the nest.

 

[steve2495]

Quote:
thank u!!

 

[Debbienmousey]

I agree with Sunny. Although there is a good chance your young hen is going broody again, she may just be taking longer to lay her eggs. I had one hen this year which sat on the nest for 2 days, even overnight once, and the day that I was about to give her some eggs she hopped off and stopped acting broody. Some hens are just strange.

Also, awhile ago when our hens were very stressed by lots of cockerels in the flock and by roosters/other hens jumping in the same nest box as them the hen which was trying to lay her egg would growl and make a racket at whoever was in her box. Some of our hens even go so jumpy that if you barely stuck your hand in their nest box they'd run and jump out of it!

If you're planning on replacing that hens eggs anyway if she does go broody, then I'd suggest leaving a pile of 10 or so eggs out (Maybe in the box she's been laying in). If she is on the verge of broodiness, this will probably help her make up her mind. You'll know if she's truly broody if she stays on the nest most of the day and overnight at least twice.

Good luck! I hope she is broody, it sounds like she'll be a keeper for a long time

 

[steve2495]

Quote:
thank u yup i love her very much