Intermittent Broody Behavior?

[LyleVertigo]

It's been about 3/4th of a year since I started keeping chickens.
One thing that always boggled me is that they never want to sleep in their coops.
I had to place a bench in their run because they were all climbing on top of one another to sleep on the gravity feeder than to go in the coop to sleep.

Since they started laying eggs 2 hens showed broody behavior, but every time night falls they leave the eggs to sleep with the others on the bench than to stay on them. Next morning they would go back up in the coop with eggs and sit on them.

I even tried to add red lights in one that lights up at night to encourage them to go in but it didn't make a difference.

For christmas, my brother gave me a silkie pullet. It slept alone in a coop while the others didn't trust it, but after they accepted it the pullet stopped sleeping in the coop and now sleeps with the others on the bench. They even preferred to sleep in the freezing cold than to go in the warm coop! I don't get these birds.

 

[DobieLover]

Please post pictures of your coop/run setup. Lack of wanting to use the coop to roost in usually boils down to inadequate natural light, ventilation and/or size.

 

[Yardmom]

Only sitting on nests during the day could be due to lack of space, or roosts, bullying, illness, or the start of broodiness. If it is for only a couple hours it is just laying routine. If they don't sit on the nests at night do not give them eggs.

 

[LyleVertigo]

Please post pictures of your coop/run setup. Lack of wanting to use the coop to roost in usually boils down to inadequate natural light, ventilation and/or size.

The Run is very spacious, I have 9 chickens total and 2 seperate coops. Both have 4 nesting boxes each and between the two of them they have more than enough room. I made sure the setup was both in a shade and in the path of airflow.

 

[Ridgerunner]

One thing that always boggled me is that they never want to sleep in their coops.

Chickens evolved to sleep in trees in any weather long before th4ey were domesticated. They can handle being sleeping in the weather much better than many people imagine. I've seen Dominique, Games, and New Hampshire sleep in trees with the temperature below zero Fahrenheit. I don't know where you are located so I don't know what weather you are seeing but if they are doing OK out there they are doing OK.

If you want them to sleep in a coop go out there after dark and lock them in a coop. The same chickens in the same coop every night. After a while you should be able to train them to go in on their own.

Since they started laying eggs 2 hens showed broody behavior, but every time night falls they leave the eggs to sleep with the others on the bench than to stay on them. Next morning they would go back up in the coop with eggs and sit on them.

At least they are laying in a nest in a coop. I'm not sure what is going on. Do you want a hen to go broody and hatch eggs?

I do not trust a hen to be broody enough to give her eggs to hatch unless she spends two consecutive nights in the nest. Spending time on the nest during the day does not count, it has to be two consecutive nights. I don't know how long either is staying on a nest but I don't consider them truly broody.

 

[LyleVertigo]

Chickens evolved to sleep in trees in any weather long before th4ey were domesticated. They can handle being sleeping in the weather much better than many people imagine. I've seen Dominique, Games, and New Hampshire sleep in trees with the temperature below zero Fahrenheit. I don't know where you are located so I don't know what weather you are seeing but if they are doing OK out there they are doing OK.

If you want them to sleep in a coop go out there after dark and lock them in a coop. The same chickens in the same coop every night. After a while you should be able to train them to go in on their own.


At least they are laying in a nest in a coop. I'm not sure what is going on. Do you want a hen to go broody and hatch eggs?

I do not trust a hen to be broody enough to give her eggs to hatch unless she spends two consecutive nights in the nest. Spending time on the nest during the day does not count, it has to be two consecutive nights. I don't know how long either is staying on a nest but I don't consider them truly broody.

It might just be egg laying routine and I'm seeing another take the first one's place later on in the afternoon.

I do have a dozen of their eggs in the incubator right now, since I noticed they weren't on them at night I haven't tried to let them hatch.