I think my newly minted hen (1 yr today) is broody…?

[Dynamissa]

I should mention she’s not even sitting on eggs. She picks an empty nest box to sit, and when she can’t get in there she just sits outside of it in the coop if I let her. I can’t close off access to the coop because the other girls are still laying.

After 4pm when I’m
Sure the others are finished for the the day I close the coop for 3 hours before they go to roost. She might walk around, scratch, shout at the other girls, and once the door opens she zips inside and hunkers down on the coop floor because I blocked the nest boxes. She’s getting pooped on as the girls roost over her.

She will eat some kalmbach henhouse reserve I give her but I don’t see her eating any grit . Maybe she gets it when she scratches. She rarely drinks and looked super dehydrated this morning, comb floppy. I gave her some water at the side of her beak (on the outside like she was a chick) with some electrolytes and plain water and her comb perked up again. I’m still working on getting some extra flooring for my broody jail.

 

[NatJ]

I don’t see her eating any grit

Once they are done growing, chickens don't need to eat grit in large amounts or very often.

Each little pebble stays in the gizzard until it gets ground down by the other pebbles, and when it's too small it passes out and needs to be replaced.

When chicks are growing, they keep needing to eat more grit, because the pieces that were "just right" a few weeks ago are "too small" and getting pooped out. So the chicks pick bigger and bigger pieces to keep their gizzard properly stocked. But when they're done growing, they only need to eat enough to replace the pieces that wear away.

So an adult hen might go a while without eating grit, and be perfectly fine. It works well to keep grit available all the time, so the chickens can get it when they do need more, but there's no reason to worry if your broody hen ignores the grit.

 

[Dynamissa]

Once they are done growing, chickens don't need to eat grit in large amounts or very often.

Each little pebble stays in the gizzard until it gets ground down by the other pebbles, and when it's too small it passes out and needs to be replaced.

When chicks are growing, they keep needing to eat more grit, because the pieces that were "just right" a few weeks ago are "too small" and getting pooped out. So the chicks pick bigger and bigger pieces to keep their gizzard properly stocked. But when they're done growing, they only need to eat enough to replace the pieces that wear away.

So an adult hen might go a while without eating grit, and be perfectly fine. It works well to keep grit available all the time, so the chickens can get it when they do need more, but there's no reason to worry if your broody hen ignores the grit.

Fantastic information thank you! I wasn’t sure since I see them pass it, no idea how often they needed to eat more.