Is my buff orp broody?

[mother o' chicks72]

Ok so I bought day old chicks february 18th 2011 and my buff orp from the batch has been sitting on the eggs quite a bit but not constantly. is it too good to hope she is broody? many of our chicks turned out to be roosters(curse you bantams!!!) and a few others died so I was hoping i could buy a day old and slip it under my sweet buff girl as I've heard you can do that. So am I getting my hopes up? Opinions?

 

[littlecreekfarm]

If she is broody she will stay in the nesting box for a while...as in at least a day. She may also growl, squak or try to peck you when you try to get her eggs. Another way to tell if she is broody is if her chest has no feathers....broody hens chests are bare when they are broody. Hope this helps!



-Little Creek Farm

 

[ChickiKat]

yeah, check and see if her chest is bare...

 

[mother o' chicks72]

well my chickens have decided to shun the nesting box and have made a nest behind the hay bale in their run. her chest has feathers and she gets up and walks around for a little bit but has been spending quite a bit of time on top of the eggs (not just hers, but everybody's) . If she's not broody what's up with her?

 

[CityGirlintheCountry]

Mine never have a noticeably bare chest. It's more bare under them. I generally know they are broody by how cranky they are. They growl, scream and peck. Usually they fluff all their feathers out too.

How does she act when you try to get eggs from under her?

 

[mother o' chicks72]

haven't tried taking the eggs. been moping around inside all day. I have a cold and it's rainy and gross outside. thing is she's already the grumpiest one of the girls so i wouldn't know if she's unusually grumpy or not... is there anything else that would make her sit on the eggs a lot?

 

[heatherkh]

When she does walk around is she puffed up like a turkey making a rhythmic "cluck-cluck-cluck?"

 

[mother o' chicks72]

not really but last night i couldn't find her and then i looked on the nest and she was sitting there all poofy with her tail up and then this morning she was there too. maybe i'm all worked out about nothing but heres hoping

 

[mother o' chicks72]

now it's my australorp who's on the nest. i pet her and she made this creepy noise.