Is my 8 month old hen broody??

[ducksandchickensohmy]

Hi everyone, my 8 month old Easter Egger just started laying. She was the first to lay. She laid 12 eggs and has stopped and decided to go broody on me and sit on the other's eggs and hover over the ones trying to lay and push them out of the coop. She's not mean and pecking me or them, quite the opposite. She pops up and runs over to me and runs around my legs and hops up and down and then runs over to show me the egg or eggs she's sitting on. She will climbs on top of the hen trying to lay and body blocks them and tries to oush them out of her real estate property. She was the only one laying for 2 weeks. Now the question, is she taking a rest? Like she laid a clutch of 12 and so it's break time or do I need to do something to break the broody? She's my best layer. I only have 3 others that just started this week. Im in Northeast Ohio but we are having a pretty mild winter so far. Thanks for any expertise you can offer. Annie

 

[nuthatched]

You can break her, no reason to let her set

 

[ducksandchickensohmy]

You can break her, no reason to let her set

How do I do that?

 

[sourland]

If she is sitting in the nest overnight, she is broody. If not she is just taking a break in her laying cycle.

 

[nuthatched]

How do I do that?

If you have dog kennel,stick her in it for a few days, no bedding, just a roost and food/water

 

[ducksandchickensohmy]

If she is sitting in the nest overnight, she is broody. If not she is just taking a break in her laying cycle.

If she is sitting in the nest overnight, she is broody. If not she is just taking a break in her laying cycle.

She roosts with everyone at night and is out in the run to eat, drink, and socialize until someone goes in the coop to lay. Also in yhe mornin she would be the first out of the door to eat but now she sits on the duck egg or the other chickens eggs in the morning and then when i go to gather them she hops right up to show me. None of them use the nesting boxes. They lay in 2 of the corner's in the coop.

 

[AmyRoach]

Hi everyone, my 8 month old Easter Egger just started laying. She was the first to lay. She laid 12 eggs and has stopped and decided to go broody on me and sit on the other's eggs and hover over the ones trying to lay and push them out of the coop. She's not mean and pecking me or them, quite the opposite. She pops up and runs over to me and runs around my legs and hops up and down and then runs over to show me the egg or eggs she's sitting on. She will climbs on top of the hen trying to lay and body blocks them and tries to oush them out of her real estate property. She was the only one laying for 2 weeks. Now the question, is she taking a rest? Like she laid a clutch of 12 and so it's break time or do I need to do something to break the broody? She's my best layer. I only have 3 others that just started this week. Im in Northeast Ohio but we are having a pretty mild winter so far. Thanks for any expertise you can offer. Annie

I would break her from being broody if it were me.

 

[aart]

Are you sure she's broody?
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Here's how I break my broodies:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

 

[Frizz Chickooster]

I just had one of my 8-month-old hens go broody also. She was born in June and just hatched hatch 5 chicks. Is this normal for younger hens to do. She seems like she is going to be a good mother.