I have an EE/american gamefowl mixed pullet (Olga) who just started laying Tuesday of last week. She has been a wonderful egg-laying machine and has laid 6 eggs in 7 days, each one a little larger than the day before. She's a quick layer, too. She goes into the nest box, sits for a few, comes out and sings her announcement, and I go out and retrieve the egg. Same routine, every day.
This morning, she was already on the nest when DH went out at 7 a.m. to open the run for the girls to free range. It has been over 4 hours, and she is still there. We had a leghorn do that once & she got eggbound, so I don't want to let this happen to Olga. I stuck my hand in the nesting box to check her, and she HISSED at me and pecked my hand. I lifted her up, and she had laid her egg and was sitting on it (it's not fertile... she's never even seen a rooster, much less been fertilized). I took her egg but left the fake egg that "lives" in the nest. She growled at me, hissed again, and sat back down on the fake egg.
She will be 28 weeks old tomorrow and has only been laying for a week. Would she go broody already???
This morning, she was already on the nest when DH went out at 7 a.m. to open the run for the girls to free range. It has been over 4 hours, and she is still there. We had a leghorn do that once & she got eggbound, so I don't want to let this happen to Olga. I stuck my hand in the nesting box to check her, and she HISSED at me and pecked my hand. I lifted her up, and she had laid her egg and was sitting on it (it's not fertile... she's never even seen a rooster, much less been fertilized). I took her egg but left the fake egg that "lives" in the nest. She growled at me, hissed again, and sat back down on the fake egg.
She will be 28 weeks old tomorrow and has only been laying for a week. Would she go broody already???