Is my chicken behaving normally? Or is there something wrong?

[La Loka]

Howdy! I am brand new to chickens. We bought a pair of pullets in January. They both began laying in early February, and we were getting about 11eggs per week from the 2 of them.

Recently, it seems that one has become broody. She spends all her time in the nest box, or in a small hole she dug in the dirt. She isn't sitting on eggs, just sitting. She has a decreased appetite and little poop. She suddenly sounds like a rusty hinge on a door--normally she's a quiet little thing. So far this week we've gotten only 2 eggs between both hens.

Is all of this normal broodiness, or should I be looking for trouble?

She has a fine appetite for the Chicken Crack treats we give them (but I'd heard that that is basically chicken junk food, so I worry about the birds having too much.)

My other pullet also seems to have a decreased appetite and fewer (but much larger) poops. She's not sitting in her nest box. She is also enthusiastic about the Chicken Crack. No rusty-sounding screeches from this one yet.

They have both been put in a movable run during the day with access to grass-- could this have caused something to get impacted in her crop?

At this point I don't know if all this is normal broody behavior, or if I need to get my pullet off to the vet?

Thanks for your help and insight.
La Loka

 

[realsis]

Sometimes broodies will get growled when they are sitting but look for any signs of respiratory illness to be sure that's what's going on . listen very carefully to her breathing, make certain you don't hear any wheezing or crackling. Is she coughing sneezing or is mucus present? Any of these can signify respiratory illness. Is she eating and drinking normally? Check her crop and make sure it's emptying as it should. You can try giving her a good poultry vitamin right now to see if it helps if all the things check out normally when you look her over. If she does have any wheezing and coughing or mucus you might consider a good antibotic geared towards respiratory illness like Tylan50. But check her over and listen closely and report what you have discovered, if anything. If no signs of illness is present it just might be the way she gets when broody.i have one that sounds like a goose. She always has sounded this way so it's her normal. This may be the way she gets when broody but give her a good check to be certain. Hope this helps and wish you the best.

 

[La Loka]

Update: As of today, I am guessing both pullets are broody. I've been reading the forums and it looks like bantams tend towards broodiness. Rosie and Biscuit are bantam rocks.

Realsis: I checked them over for respiratory issues, and they both seem to be ok. I am not finding any mites or other parasites on them. And their crops seem to be okay. Thanks for your input. I guess Rosie is just noisy.

Right now we are still not getting many eggs-about 2 a week between the two birds. Both hens are put in a pen for the day, away from their nest box, otherwise they'd spend the day there. Then, I thought that we might not be getting eggs because they didn't have a place to lay them, so I put a basket on it's side in the pen as a makeshift nest box. Nothing. They don't use the box, but the younger chicks do to get away from the bantams so I think I'd like to leave it.

I've just added in our 2 new chicks, who are about 10 weeks old, so that might be a stressor that prevents their laying? The bantams are definitely the top chickens.

All four of them are put in the pen for the day with food and water. I've actually been putting in two kinds of food: Layer pellets and the Chick Start for the younger two. The pen is about 8 feet by 3.5 feet and open at the bottom and moved around the yard every 2 days or so so that they can enjoy the weeds and bugs.

They don't seem to mind being out in the pen, but they both really want to get back to their coop midday and get in the nesting box.

Should I go ahead and try the wire cage technique for both my bantams? I was hoping that getting them into the pen for the day away from their nesting box would do it. I really want eggs! Thanks everyone for your help.