HELP! found out my hen is broody

[ChrisBLover8]

We are fairly new to the chicken world. We got a speckled sussex named Clarabelle back in October. We thought she could've just been old and not laying anymore as all of our other hens have come back into laying. Anyway, today we found that she has laid an egg and has been sitting on it. Ive been thinking she was sick so when I saw an opportunity to check her out without our very protective Rhodebar rooster, I took it. I picked her up and then took her away to look at her. Then after researching her "symptoms" i thought hmm she could be sitting on an egg. I went back to check and sure enough there was egg. She has made her nest in an old dog house sitting on our property. Its very cozy. My questions are..will she return to the egg? ALso, her egg is not in the safe, protected coop. It's open to predators coming in at night. I'd like to see if she's able to bring it to a chick but not sure it's safe for her if she doesn't go back in the coop at night. Why would she lay out of the coop? And is it safe to move it into the coop? HELP!!! Evening is approaching here. Thanks!!

 

[ButtonquailGirl14]

I would say not to move it!

 

[sylviethecochin]

I'd check to be sure she's actually broody, first.

She laid this egg in a dog house, you say? Did she lay a clutch with it? Most hens prefer to have at least eight before they start setting properly. If she only laid the one in the nesting spot, then she's probably not broody.

But you can candle it to be sure.

Did she peck you when you removed her? Did her underside feel sticky and is she losing feathers down there? (underside of the breast) If she's broody, she'll "backhoe" eggs under her with her beak and be at least moderately upset if you touch them.

She might return to it, she might not. If she is broody, then she certainly won't recognise it if you move it to the coop.

As for why they lay outside the coop--well, they think they've found better nesting spots. Or they got tired of you taking the eggs. Hens like having eggs in the nesting boxes. If they lay and lay and there are no eggs, that's a sign that something's eating them, which means it's an unsafe nesting spot.

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

I agree with the above poster. Pretty good information.

I would NOT leave that egg or her in an unsecure location over night, and NOR would I let her sit on a SINGLE egg. Talk about lousy hatch possibilities. And possibly trading the life of a hen for an egg with unknown fertility... NOT worth the risk. You could work to secure the dog house. That is according to MY predator load. There have been other locations I lived that would not have been an issue.

When you removed her if she was broody she would run straight for that nest again. Frantically. She would not go into the coop at night if she is broody, she will only come out to quickly eat and drink once or twice per day and expel the mother load of nasty, broody poo. unmistakable.

Girls hiding their nest is an issue, to me. You can lock her in and train her to lay in the boxes again if it's important to you. Or block off her chosen nest site so she can't enter it again. One reason they might lay else where is flock dynamics. Leaving a fake egg or two on each nest has drastically decreased my nest hiders... they definitely do not like having their eggs stolen.

If she is older, she may just be coming out of molt and be her first egg in a her chosen place. They stay in there a while sometimes even once the egg is laid, even when they aren't broody sometimes. Maybe recovering still or something.

If she is indeed broody and you wanna hatch eggs... you will need some MUCH better information to achieve your best chance at success.

Ya, I don't know... about not being able to handle my ladies around a "very protective" ANY rooster or cockerel. Probably make some nice soup if they're to stupid to recognize their human that takes care of them everyday as a non threat. Personal choice though.

If she has returned to her nest and refuses to leave, then likely broody. But simply removing a girl who is even on the way to broody will not discourage them. They will become more broody over the next couple of days. I suggest you start collecting the eggs you wanna hatch while waiting to make sure she is committed. And put ones you don't care about hatching or fakes under her while you wait.