Is my Ameraucana hen broody?

[Catherine Hughes]

I have an Ameraucana hen about a year old and she doesn't want to leave the laying box. She tried to peck me when I tried to move her and made some weird noises that sounded like a chicken trying to growl. She is a sweet hen who has never pecked me before. I am a relative novice, having had chickens less than a year. I am hoping she is broody and there isn't something wrong with her. I am sure experienced people are probably laughing, this is my first experience with a possibly broody hen.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

She does sound broody. Either break her or use her. You can break her by putting her in a wire bottom crate slightly elevated off the ground. I've also broke them just by penning them away from their chosen nest site.

 

[HeartsDelight]

Yep, you now have your very own angry pancake, I mean broody hen.

 

[Cadence A Waller]

Sounds just like a broody!

 

[Catherine Hughes]

Yep, you now have your very own angry pancake, I mean broody hen.

That is a good description. She is like an angry pancake.

 

[Cadence A Waller]

That is a good description. She is like an angry pancake.

 

[aart]

angry pancake

These are the signs I look for:
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.

Do you want her to hatch chicks?

 

[Catherine Hughes]

These are the signs I look for:
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.

Do you want her to hatch chicks?

I haven't taken her off the nest, although I did see her walking around once. I think I do want her to hatch chicks, although I have no idea what they will be. I think she is sitting on more than her own eggs, and the rooster in the pen is a mixed breed.

 

[aart]

I have no idea what they will be

They will be more chickens!

Here's some of my notes for you to ponder:
You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? Both for more chickens and she may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It's a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


When I have a broody I wait until she's been in the nest most the day and all night for 2-3 days...along with those other signs I posted.

Then I put her in the broody enclosure with fake eggs in the floor nest, she won't like being moved, but if she is truly good and broody she will settle onto the new nest within a half a day.
Then I give her fresh fertile eggs and mark the calendar.

I like them separated by wire from the flock, it's just easier all around.
No having to mark eggs and remove any additions daily, no taking up a laying nest, no going back to the wrong nest after the daily constitutional.

 

[Catherine Hughes]

I was thinking that I would let her hatch the eggs she is sitting on now and move her and the chicks to a separate pen and run when they hatch.
So what you are saying is move her to another nest with fake eggs then give her some new fertile eggs. That sounds like a good idea. I am going to think about that. This is a new development and one I had not prepared for.