Hen won't leave nesting box.

[jp57]

One of my hens has started spending the day in one of the nesting boxes in the coop. At first I thought she was just laying late because I would find her in the box when I came home in the evening. I would have to wait until she left in the morning to eat, to get to the eggs under her. They were warm, so I am assuming she was on them overnight. I've had the last couple of days off and found that after eating in the morning, she has been spending the whole day in there. I am assuming she is trying to incubate the eggs, but I don't have a rooster so the eggs wouldn't be fertilized. The eggs she was on weren't even hers (wrong color). This morning when I went out, I had to physically remove her. Within 10 minutes she was back inside. I have 5 acres that they free roam on so it's not like she doesn't have other options. Is this something normal or could something be wrong?

 

[MillersFarm]

Sounds like shes trying to brood, You could either buy some hatching eggs for her to hatch, Buy pullets (If you cant afford to have cockerels) online, Or you could break her broodiness by putting her in elevated metal cage without any bedding and just a water/feeder for about five or four days.

 

[lilmillefleur]

She's broody, and that's normal.
I would do any of the things MillersFarm said.

 

[jp57]

I'm not allowed any more birds so I'll have to break her. Should I just use something like a dog crate? How elevated does it need to be? I have a couple of run-in buildings I could set her up in so she has shade and rain protection.

 

[MillersFarm]

Something like this but without any bedding or without the tray, If she would stand on a smooth slippery tray like that for a while that could effect her legs so i would make sure that the holes on the bottom small enough so that she can stand on it without falling through. If the holes are too big and you need the tray in the cage then i'd put a towel in it

And yes you would want to make sure shes out of the rain and the cage needs to be elevated enough so air get get under, So not the high.

 

[jp57]

Ok. Thanks for the advice.

 

[jp57]

Should I let her go back into the keep at night, or do I keep her in the cage for the full four to five days?

 

[aart]

Should I let her go back into the keep at night, or do I keep her in the cage for the full four to five days?

It's best if you can put the breaker crate right in the coop so she's 'with' the flock or reintegrating her might be an issue. Do you free range or have a run? Keeping the crate in the run with weather protection during the day then in the run-in at night would be the next best scenario.

I use a crate with smaller wire(1x2) installed in bottom and tray removed.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

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 and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

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.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[jp57]

I have a small coop inside of a fenced in enclosure. They free range all day on five acres. The dog crate I was going to use wouldn't fit inside the coop. Here is a picture of their set up. This morning I pulled her out of the nesting box and she went out to eat. I closed the door so she couldn't get back into the coop since the other don't have any problem laying outside of the nesting boxes.

 

[aart]

Locking her out of the coop might work...or she may go find a place to nest out in range area. Putting the breaker cage in a protected area is the best bet then.