Hen trying to go broody or not?

[Skyleen13]

I’ve got a 7 month old red speckled Sussex hen who just started laying eggs last week. We’ve noticed this last week some strange behaviors from her when she goes to lay her egg. She gathers all the eggs in the nesting boxes together & sits on them. She allows us to take them out from under her but doesn’t move from her spot. Once she lays her egg she then leaves the boxes without any fuss. Is she trying to go broody? She’s so young I wouldn’t think so but I’m just not so sure. She’s done this for 2 days straight now. Help?

 

[chickenlittle21]

Its probably that her instinct is telling her to go broody but shes young and confused about it

 

[Sonya9]

I’ve got a 7 month old red speckled Sussex hen who just started laying eggs last week. We’ve noticed this last week some strange behaviors from her when she goes to lay her egg. She gathers all the eggs in the nesting boxes together & sits on them. She allows us to take them out from under her but doesn’t move from her spot. Once she lays her egg she then leaves the boxes without any fuss. Is she trying to go broody? She’s so young I wouldn’t think so but I’m just not so sure. She’s done this for 2 days straight now. Help?

When she goes broody she will puff up when you mess with her and start "huffing" a lot. If that happens and you want to hatch out eggs give her a couple of "duds" to sit on for a couple of days to see if she is serious. If/when you know she is serious then give her marked hatching eggs.

 

[Hidrainja4]

My chickens do things with eggs. They sit on them for hours and then leave, they rearrange them. The fake white ceramic egg(they are brown or blue layers) gets thrown out of the coop and sometimes disappears for a day or to before I find it. If you don't want her to go broody now remove the eggs as fast as you can . My guess is she is just playing with the idea.

 

[NatJ]

I think it's normal for a hen to want to sit on some eggs for a bit before she lays her own.

You say she gets off after laying her egg, so I don't think it's a sign of broodiness right now.

 

[Skyleen13]

Its probably that her instinct is telling her to go broody but shes young and confused about it

Ok. Thank you. I’ll watch her to see if she does decide to go broody.

 

[Skyleen13]

I think it's normal for a hen to want to sit on some eggs for a bit before she lays her own.

You say she gets off after laying her egg, so I don't think it's a sign of broodiness right now.

Ok. Thank you. Wouldn’t mind if she does go broody though.

 

[Skyleen13]

When she goes broody she will puff up when you mess with her and start "huffing" a lot. If that happens and you want to hatch out eggs give her a couple of "duds" to sit on for a couple of days to see if she is serious. If/when you know she is serious then give her marked hatching eggs.

Thank you! Was wondering how to officially tell if she is or not. Bonus, you helped me know what to do to see if she really wants to be broody.

 

[Skyleen13]

I think it's normal for a hen to want to sit on some eggs for a bit before she lays her own.

You say she gets off after laying her egg, so I don't think it's a sign of broodiness right now.

Thank you. I’ll take a wait & see approach.

 

[aart]

Have had more than a few 'loungers'.....and the tucking of eggs is normal, IMO.

Here's my go-to signs of a broody:
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.