how will i know that she is ready??????

[lilbreeches]

what are signs that my hen is going or has went broody? will she act different or will she just decide to sit in a nest box all day and not get up? i have never had a broody, just the bator. would love to have one go broody though and one of my little bantams is acting weird today. thanks.

 

[dixiechick]

Mine just prefer to sit in the nesting box all day. Refuse to eat as much....not much activity....just sitting....

 

[Pumpkinpup]

She will sit on the nest all the time and purrr or growl at you if you try to move her or mess with her on the nest. If you notice her spending lots of time on the nest and makes those noises she is going broody

 

[lilbreeches]

well one of my little banty girls has been pacing the fence all day and then she would go in the nest then out then in then out then pace some more. she laid today, then the pacing and in and out again. just wondered what that meant, hoping for broody

 

[dixiechick]

sounds like it. I had one that I didn't want to go broody...she was kinda doing what you are describing...so we took her eggs out (and everyone else's)...I notice they were out of water, so I laid the eggs down by a small tree and filled up their water. When I turned around she had flown down, picked out HER egg and was rolling it back to her nest. How funny....I felt so bad....

 

[lilbreeches]

ok so what should i do? I DO want her to go broody. what can i do to encourage her? should i put her in a pen alone or just leave her with the others until she actually starts sitting?

 

[dixiechick]

Leave her eggs with her. When she gathers what she wants, she'll start (if she is ready)

 

[chickenbike]

I'm reading this thread to try and see if the behaviour of one of my hens means she is broody. For 4 days she has been acting differently:

less active
fluffed out feathers
eating less
preferring to be in the ark and not out in the run
lying under the light in the ark


Both my girls have not laid an egg for about 10-12 days. So the one hen who's behaviour is significantly different over the last 4 days, does not have any eggs in the nest. She isn't staying in the nest for any length of time.

Could all this still just be signs of broodiness?