I've posted on this hen before, but had thought that by now she would be fine....but she's not.
Bluey, twisted spine Blue Partridge Brahma (usually feisty and capable) went broody in August. I gave her three eggs having tried to break her. Unfortunately she smothered the only chick which fully hatched (accidentally), but behaved as though she had chicks. Due to the time of year I didn't have any chicks for her to adopt and none were available locally (Chickens cannot be posted here).
As she just could not cope with the rest of the flock, I have had to reintegrate her very slowly. (She initially went missing for a couple of days and then she turned up one day in the garden pond, severely hypothermic).Although the rest of the flock don't bully her, she still just tend to sit under the shed eaves or hide behind a pile of logs. She does not join in with their 'rough and tumble' and is always within a yard or two of the shed.
She spends a short time with the other chickens in the morning , goes back and crouches in front of the agricultural shed door at about midday (waiting to be let in to lay her egg) and then spends the afternoon with them before sleeping alone in the shed.
I have increased the amount of time that she has spent outside and thought she was improving. A few nights back she walked the 100 or so yards to coops and spent her night perched up with the others as I was a bit late shutting the chickens in. She has done this now for three nights.
I was thinking she was better, thinking she was over chicks. Then.....yesterday she was sitting by the shed door to go in to egg lay.....I let her in. She found a bit of grain, and started clucking and offering the grain to non-existent chicks. She did this for quite some time.
Will she ever get over the loss? I just really don't know how to make things better for her.
Bluey, twisted spine Blue Partridge Brahma (usually feisty and capable) went broody in August. I gave her three eggs having tried to break her. Unfortunately she smothered the only chick which fully hatched (accidentally), but behaved as though she had chicks. Due to the time of year I didn't have any chicks for her to adopt and none were available locally (Chickens cannot be posted here).
As she just could not cope with the rest of the flock, I have had to reintegrate her very slowly. (She initially went missing for a couple of days and then she turned up one day in the garden pond, severely hypothermic).Although the rest of the flock don't bully her, she still just tend to sit under the shed eaves or hide behind a pile of logs. She does not join in with their 'rough and tumble' and is always within a yard or two of the shed.
She spends a short time with the other chickens in the morning , goes back and crouches in front of the agricultural shed door at about midday (waiting to be let in to lay her egg) and then spends the afternoon with them before sleeping alone in the shed.
I have increased the amount of time that she has spent outside and thought she was improving. A few nights back she walked the 100 or so yards to coops and spent her night perched up with the others as I was a bit late shutting the chickens in. She has done this now for three nights.
I was thinking she was better, thinking she was over chicks. Then.....yesterday she was sitting by the shed door to go in to egg lay.....I let her in. She found a bit of grain, and started clucking and offering the grain to non-existent chicks. She did this for quite some time.
Will she ever get over the loss? I just really don't know how to make things better for her.
