Hen sitting on nest only at night

[Rainekitty]

I have a one year old white rock hen who has been sitting on eggs in the nest overnight, but spending her days outside the coop. Could this be an early indication of broodiness, or is just normal weird chicken behavior? I'm kind of hoping one of my hens will go broody because I'd like to get a few chicks this year.

 

[Realtree4]

How many nights has she been sleeping on the nest? When mine go broody, I can tell because they usually roost at night and if they spend 3 nights on the nest (gradually increasing time on the nest until they do not get up at all), then I know they're serious and I will put eggs I want to hatch.

If her sleeping on the nest and moving around during the day has been going on a long time, then sounds like she has developed a habit of just sleeping there. I personally would break her of sleeping on the nest because sleeping chickens are pooping chickens

 

[Peep-Chicken]

My silkie sleeps on the nests every night. She has for the past year. Yours is doing the same maybe because she can't get a spot on the roost or she just likes the boxes. So there is a chance of broodiness, but I doubt it. If she starts going through the mornings then she may be going broody.

 

[Rainekitty]

Thanks. We have a large coop and plenty of roosts and only three hens in that space and she's the alpha, so I don't think it's a lack of roost space. She usually only sleeps on the nest when I forget to collect the eggs. Which has been often recently. Work + school + kids + flu will do that to you. Although she did sleep in the nest box for a while when I first got her several months ago. But she shows no interest in the eggs during the day. Maybe it's just cozy in there!

 

[as110]

My chicken was broody. When it was close to hatching time, I tried to mover to an enclosed spot on the floor. She freaked out, she tried to get back to the old nest box, and I let her be because I didn’t want to break her broodiness. I removed all of the incubating eggs and replaced them with fresh ones. I put her eggs into the incubator because I didn’t want them to hatch up so high and with other hens alwYs teying to get i to the same box.

Ever since we tried to move her, she has been soending more and more time off the nest, so I tried to remove the other hens off her nest and I put the broody back on. Many times she would sit down, other times she just needed more time off the nest. Eventually she would get back and always sleep on the best.

It has been 11 days since I put her eggs into the incubator and today we have the first chicken. (I almost wish they had died in the eggs :0(.

I really wanted the broody to take care of her chickens. I don’t know if this will work. I brought her inside and covered her nest. She can hear the new chicken chirp. She has been grooming the new nest but she has been mostly standing. I can see she is wondering where the noise is coming from and sometimes she makes broody sounds.

I was planning to sneak the chicken under her when I know for sure she is not just siiting on the eggs at night. In the kitchen I have control over the situation because I can watch what she is doing. If she can’t raise her chicks I will have to deal with them in the house for months. This is the third year and I don’t want to hatch and raise chickens without a hen. It has been so much work the last few years and each time we ended up with only 1 or two chickens hatched.

I really hope she will accept her chicks.

For the record this hen is one that was rejectec by her mom last year and she basically thinks I am her mom. I showed her how I took care of her and hopefully she will be useful as a mom.

If not, I will deal with chickens again.

P.S.
She is sitting on the nest now.

 

[as110]

When would be a good time to sneak the chicken back into the nest?
When is is off the nest and esting?
Or while she is sitting on the nest.

I saved the egg shell so I am going to put it in the nest with the chick and the hen can take care of it. Hopefully she will realize the egg and chick are a package lol.

 

[aart]

I have a one year old white rock hen who has been sitting on eggs in the nest overnight, but spending her days outside the coop. Could this be an early indication of broodiness, or is just normal weird chicken behavior? I'm kind of hoping one of my hens will go broody because I'd like to get a few chicks this year.

Here's the broody signs I look for and what I do when to let them hatch:
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.


When I have a broody I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

 

[as110]

Thank you for your response. She is not broody anymore and she refused to sit on the eggs once I moved her. She rejected the chick so I put her out to the coop and put the remaining eggs into the incubator. If I have to take care of one chicken I might as well take care of a flock.

The little chick thinks I am his mom and keeps coming into my hand. He didn't know what to do with the hen and she pecked at the little one. So now this is done. I just have to wait for the weather to warm up. Until then they will be in the kitchen.

 

[Mrsjdavis]

I have kind of the opposite concern. My hen sits in eggs during the day but then roosts at night. If I hoo in the coop in the AM and take the eggs, she stands at the door looking at me like " excuse me! What do you think you're doing?" HAHA So I put the eggs back and leave em alone. Maybe one of the ducks sits on them at night? When my duck was sitting on eggs, this same hen would go in and "egg sit" for the duck when she would come out to eat etc..( these 2 were raised together) I don't have an incubator and sho I wonder how long to leave the eggs. Would love some babies but I want the hens to raise them.