Hen without feathers on stomach

[KongOdin]

Hello.

My one hen have been laying in a basket (where they leg eggs) for the last couple days and I was wondering what was wrong with it. I lift it up and I see it's got no feathers on its stomach and something that looked like a little iritation. Some redness.

I'm new with hens so I'm a little daunted by this. Is this something I have to worry about or is it a normal thing with hens? It's only one.

Possible causes?

Thanks for any help. First time poster and excuse my english.

 

[SunHwaKwon]

It's called going broody. She wants to hatch babies so she's pulled the feathers out to get direct contact with the eggs.

 

[azygous]

The likely cause of the feather loss is from going broody. This occurs with some hens after the've laid a certain number of eggs. Hormones switch over from egg laying hormones to egg incubating hormones. The feather loss on the breast along each side of the keel bone provide a means to deliver maximum body heat and humidity to the eggs, causing them to warm and chick embryos to begin developing.

A broody hen will eat very little, sticking to a nest except for a few minutes a day to go eat and deliver a huge poop. Nothing you can do will persuade her to leave the nest otherwise for the next 21 days, upon which time chicks will hatch. Then her hormones switch again to other hormones which will cause her to brood and care for the chicks.

 

[KongOdin]

The likely cause of the feather loss is from going broody. This occurs with some hens after the've laid a certain number of eggs. Hormones switch over from egg laying hormones to egg incubating hormones. The feather loss on the breast along each side of the keel bone provide a means to deliver maximum body heat and humidity to the eggs, causing them to warm and chick embryos to begin developing.

A broody hen will eat very little, sticking to a nest except for a few minutes a day to go eat and deliver a huge poop. Nothing you can do will persuade her to leave the nest otherwise for the next 21 days, upon which time chicks will hatch. Then her hormones switch again to other hormones which will cause her to brood and care for the chicks.

Thanks for you reply. She's not laying on any eggs though. Also not laying eggs. When I try to lift her up she chops me once and makes a little noise as if she was protecting eggs however.

 

[azygous]

A broody hen doesn't need any eggs under her to be broody. She will be happy to sit in an empty nest for three weeks. Some hens will steal eggs out of other nests to gather up to sit on. They stop laying eggs right before going broody.

All the signs point to your hen being broody. You can give her some eggs to incubate, but they need to be fertilized by a rooster to develop into chicks.

If you don't want your hen to sit on an empty nest for three weeks, you can break her. To do this, you need to have a cage with an open mesh bottom to confine her so she won't keep returning to a nest. (Provide food and water in the cage for her.)

The open mesh bottom lets air cool the hen and this interrupts the hormones. Leave her in the cage day and night. In about three days, the hormones will be back to normal ones, and your hen will quit wanting to sit on the nest. In a couple more weeks, she should start to lay eggs again.

 

[KongOdin]

A broody hen doesn't need any eggs under her to be broody. She will be happy to sit in an empty nest for three weeks. Some hens will steal eggs out of other nests to gather up to sit on. They stop laying eggs right before going broody.

All the signs point to your hen being broody. You can give her some eggs to incubate, but they need to be fertilized by a rooster to develop into chicks.

If you don't want your hen to sit on an empty nest for three weeks, you can break her. To do this, you need to have a cage with an open mesh bottom to confine her so she won't keep returning to a nest. (Provide food and water in the cage for her.)

The open mesh bottom lets air cool the hen and this interrupts the hormones. Leave her in the cage day and night. In about three days, the hormones will be back to normal ones, and your hen will quit wanting to sit on the nest. In a couple more weeks, she should start to lay eggs again.

Okay, thanks a lot. Very informative and settling. The hen started brooding 5 days ago. Is it late putting eggs under her now? Also what's important if the hen was to succesfully crack some babychicks to us? I'm located in Norway so it's rather cold climate. Would it be unwise trying to hatch eggs now?

 

[azygous]

It's not too late to give her some eggs to incubate. She will start them incubating and from that time, count 21 days, and you can expect to see chicks on day 21. As long as she's protected from cold drafts and weather, she will keep eggs and chicks plenty warm. It's actually a good time to start chicks because the pullets will start to lay before next winter.

Provide a spot where hen and eggs won't be disturbed by other hens. Hens have an urge to try to lay their eggs where they see a broody hen for some reason. This can result is broken eggs or new eggs being added to the pile, and that can result in chicks that hatch at different intervals. This really gets complicated for the broody since she won't want to take care of chicks that have hatched as long as she still has unhatched eggs under her.

Also, you want to give the hen some protection from the other chickens when these chicks hatch. The nest should be on the ground so the chicks can easily get out to eat and poop and climb back in. Provide food and water for the broody and space to get off the nest to poop.

 

[rebrascora]

Hi

Congratulations on having a broody hen. If you decide to hatch eggs, it is important to remember that about 50% that hatch will be males and it is important to have a plan for that situation before you start the incubation process. I butcher and eat my surplus cockerels but some people can't face that. Selling them can be difficult unless they are rare breeds and even giving them away free to a good home can be difficult. Keeping surplus cockerels is also not a good idea unless you are prepared to build them a separate coop once they become adolescent as they will cause stress in the flock.

All that said, hatching with broody hens is a wonderful experience. She is not able to count the days, so don't worry that it is too late to give her eggs. Most broody hens will sit for 6 or 7 weeks waiting for chicks to hatch if you don't break them. That is unfair to the hen though as they lose condition in the process and can cause health issues. If you give her some fertile eggs in the next few days she should manage fine. If she is in a communal nest where other hens can lay eggs, it is important to mark the fertile eggs and remove any others that are laid in the nest on a daily basis but better to move the broody into her own little pen in the hen house so that she is not disturbed. Unfortunately moving a broody hen is not always successful as they bond to the nest site, so if you are going to try it, move her several days before you give her the hatching eggs to see if she will accept the move..... giving her some ordinary eggs may help her settle. She is programmed mentally to return to her chosen nest site, so it may take her a few days to adjust to the new site if you do move her and it is best to fasten her in with food and water until she gets used to it, but some will not settle and get stressed unless you let them back to "their" nest.
As regards the climate, she will be able to incubate the eggs even in winter and by the time the chicks hatch, the temperatures should be improving and she will keep the chicks warm in the same way that she has kept the eggs warm with body heat.... that is why she has plucked her feathers.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

 

[KongOdin]

Hi

Congratulations on having a broody hen. If you decide to hatch eggs, it is important to remember that about 50% that hatch will be males and it is important to have a plan for that situation before you start the incubation process. I butcher and eat my surplus cockerels but some people can't face that. Selling them can be difficult unless they are rare breeds and even giving them away free to a good home can be difficult. Keeping surplus cockerels is also not a good idea unless you are prepared to build them a separate coop once they become adolescent as they will cause stress in the flock.

All that said, hatching with broody hens is a wonderful experience. She is not able to count the days, so don't worry that it is too late to give her eggs. Most broody hens will sit for 6 or 7 weeks waiting for chicks to hatch if you don't break them. That is unfair to the hen though as they lose condition in the process and can cause health issues. If you give her some fertile eggs in the next few days she should manage fine. If she is in a communal nest where other hens can lay eggs, it is important to mark the fertile eggs and remove any others that are laid in the nest on a daily basis but better to move the broody into her own little pen in the hen house so that she is not disturbed. Unfortunately moving a broody hen is not always successful as they bond to the nest site, so if you are going to try it, move her several days before you give her the hatching eggs to see if she will accept the move..... giving her some ordinary eggs may help her settle. She is programmed mentally to return to her chosen nest site, so it may take her a few days to adjust to the new site if you do move her and it is best to fasten her in with food and water until she gets used to it, but some will not settle and get stressed unless you let them back to "their" nest.
As regards the climate, she will be able to incubate the eggs even in winter and by the time the chicks hatch, the temperatures should be improving and she will keep the chicks warm in the same way that she has kept the eggs warm with body heat.... that is why she has plucked her feathers.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.

Thanks a lot for all this great information. I will most likely try to give her some eggs. Is that just a game of luck knowing if eggs are fertalized or is there a way to know? (Other than seperating hens with males)

 

[rebrascora]

If you have a rooster with the flock and have seen him mating the hens then the chances are the eggs are fertile. The only way to know is to either incubate them and candle them after a few days to check or crack a few open and examine the yolk for the blastoderm/blastodisc.... this is a more subjective test but should give you an idea of fertility rate of your flock. Obviously you cannot hatch those you crack open but can choose eggs from the hens that look most promising if you are able to tell the difference..ie hens that lay different colour/shaped eggs. Or chose eggs from hens that you have seen the rooster mating.