i have question : why wont my hen get off the nest?

[hiro]

So lets see, some brief history:
I recently adopted my 5 hens from moving into a new house, and the old owners asking if i want them...
I love them!
5 is so easy to take care of, and their coop they have has one big space for a nest, which up until this point all 5 hens have been laying in daily
(well actually i get 4 eggs/day)....In the last 4 days, i have a hen who insists on not getting up off the nest, and i have been reaching under her to get eggs, which i still collect 4....however its getting time to change the straw, and im not comfortable picking her up and moving her incase shes ill, etc? i have been waiting a couple days, thinking she will get out...is it safe to pick her up? shes not aggressive, i jus feel like im disturbing nature.

we live in hawaii, and there is plenty roosters that they have access to, and spend 12 hrs/ day outside their pen...i feed them scratch mix, and crumbles...if thats any help....

I love this site, but lack time to filter through each post and find the answer to my questions, and am open to any kind of direction to other posts.

 

[BarefootMom]

sounds like she is broody.


she wants to sit on eggs and hatch them out.

 

[TingChickens]

Sounds like she is for sure broody!!

 

[12304]

defenitly a broody.


dont be afraid to pick her up.it may sound mean but to break her of it you must put her in a small cage (small dog cage) keep her with food and water in the cage for 2 days it should break her of it.

 

[zDoc]

Sounds broody to me too. I have one that's been doing the same thing for two weeks now. I pick her up and put her out in the back yard for a while while I grab the eggs. She heads right back in there as soon as I let her. I noticed one thing about her....her comb is dull compared to the others, I'm guessing this is a broody characteristic but don't know for sure. Good luck and I hope it doesn't last to long for you.

 

[16chickadees]

She's probably a broody. But if the hen is older, just remember that egg laying does take a lot out of a chicken (figuratively and literally lol).

 

[goldeneggtees]

her comb being pale is normal for a broody, they barely eat and drink hence the pale comb. I take my broodies who insist on sitting on wooden and infertile eggs outside 2x a day and still their combs are much paler then the rest. of course you'll also want to check the hen for possible mites or lice and make sure she isn't being eaten by them. If she looks clean, I wouldn't worry.

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[goldeneggtees]

here's a very interesting read on broody hens…


http://www.animalloversweb.com/article_chicken_broody.html