Hen stays in coop

[meekasmom]

I have a year old hen who will not come out of the coop. She sits in a nest box all the time. I have to bring her food to eat otherwise she wont eat. She appears healthy but a little thin. I don't know if she's laying or not. A couple times there was an egg in the nest box but I don't know if it was hers since the other hens use the 3 boxes. I collect all the eggs everyday so I can't tell if this hen is being broody. Any ideas or things I should look for?

 

[wamtazlady]

It appears that your hen has gone broody. She wants to hatch out eggs. When this happens she isn't laying eggs herself. When mine do this I pick them up off the nest as often as I can and put them in the run. Sometimes that will finally stop them from being broody after several days. Other people put them in a separate cage with a wire bottom. Having no way to get heat under them will break the broodiness. However, being that it's winter that's probably not an option for you as she could get too cold. Good luck. Some breeds of hens can be very persistent.

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

Greetings meekasmom,

It is possible that she is broody. What breed is she?

You need to establish that she is not sick. Sometimes, a hen will sit in the nest box when they are ill. Examine her starting with her head. Are there any signs of discharge in, eyes or nostrils? Take a look at the cloaca for stuck egg or prolapse. Gently feel her belly for any swelling. Is her poop normal? If your not sure, put her near the food to see if she eats and drinks. If she eats and drinks, she'll most likely poop a ginormous, stinky poop. That's a broody poop...now you know she's just broody. You can do as wamtazlady suggested, and she should do fine.

These are my thoughts on your hens issue, I hope they are helpful.

God Bless

 

[aart]

Is she staying on nest all night too?
That's the main sign for me.

There are other signs too....
Flattens out like 'pancake'.
Growls, hisses, screeched, bites when touched or moved.
Taken out of nest and put on floor they will drop right down and flatten back out.
Sometimes they can't walk well after sitting so long...but will soon go right back to nest, after maybe eating, drinking, pooping, dust bathing etc.

 

[aart]

If she is broody then:
You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with fed and water

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Feed and water added after pic was taken.

 

[meekasmom]

I think I know what's going on with my hen. She's an ISA Brown BTW. When I put her outside one of my other hens starts pecking her and she runs back into the coop. I think she's afraid to come out. These hens have been together since summer so I don't know what's happened between them. She didn't show the signs of being broody so that's why I investigated further. She's just being bullied. She doesn't roost at night with the others either. Just stays in the nest box. I'm hoping this will resolve in time. Thanks for all your input.