Is My Chicken Broody and What Can I Do?

[veery67eggy]

I have a one and a half year-old black Australorp who has been in a nesting box for two days now. She has two eggs under her, and her neck is slinked back into her body. Her eyes are wide and she mostly stays still. From what I have read, I am pretty sure that she is broody, but I'm not positive and I don't know if I can do anything for her. Please help me by giving me some experienced advice!

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If she is, there is nothing you need to do if the eggs are fertile. If they are not fertile but you want her to raise a family, replace them with fertile eggs from a local source.
If you don't want her to sit, put her in an elevated wire bottom cage so cool air can reach her underside. Put a little food and water in the cage.

 

[SueT]

I have a one and a half year-old black Australorp who has been in a nesting box for two days now. She has two eggs under her, and her neck is slinked back into her body. Her eyes are wide and she mostly stays still. From what I have read, I am pretty sure that she is broody, but I'm not positive and I don't know if I can do anything for her. Please help me by giving me some experienced advice!

and re the above advice in post #2, you use the wire bottom cage for at least 2 days and 2 nights. If you let her out and she's still broody, put her back in. Some hens take longer to snap out of it, I had one that took 4 days.

 

[veery67eggy]

and re the above advice in post #2, you use the wire bottom cage for at least 2 days and 2 nights. If you let her out and she's still broody, put her back in. Some hens take longer to snap out of it, I had one that took 4 days.

If she is, there is nothing you need to do if the eggs are fertile. If they are not fertile but you want her to raise a family, replace them with fertile eggs from a local source.
If you don't want her to sit, put her in an elevated wire bottom cage so cool air can reach her underside. Put a little food and water in the cage.

Thank you! The eggs are not fertile and I'm not looking for more chickens. I don't mind her staying there, but is leaving her there okay?

 

[SueT]

Thank you! The eggs are not fertile and I'm not looking for more chickens. I don't mind her staying there, but is leaving her there okay?

No, don't leave her being broody. She will hardly eat and she could stay broody way longer than 3 weeks, even endangering her life. The sooner you break the broodiness, the better off for her and the sooner she'll start laying again.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Thank you! The eggs are not fertile and I'm not looking for more chickens. I don't mind her staying there, but is leaving her there okay?

It is never OK to leave a broody hen on a nest without fertile eggs. Sometimes they break themselves after a month or two but sometimes they never do and you lose them.
The elevated cage has been used for centuries and works perfectly.

Additionally, the longer a hen is broody, the longer before she will lay eggs again.

I had a lazy friend with a broody turkey hen she never tried to break. After 6 weeks or so, the hen couldn't move on her own. After $3,000 of vet bills and a couple weeks of physical therapy the hen died anyway. I know, I buried it for her.

 

[aart]

I have a one and a half year-old black Australorp who has been in a nesting box for two days now. She has two eggs under her, and her neck is slinked back into her body. Her eyes are wide and she mostly stays still. From what I have read, I am pretty sure that she is broody, but I'm not positive and I don't know if I can do anything for her. Please help me by giving me some experienced advice!

Is she in the nest at night too?
If you take her out and put her on the ground does she drop right back down into a flattened out but fluffy pancake?
Does she then go cluckcluckcluckcluckcluckcluck real low as she makes her way back to the nest?
Those are sure signs of a broody hen....I can hear that clucking starting before she even goes to nest.

Here's how I break broody hens:
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.
Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.
Here's how I kit out a crate.

 

[veery67eggy]

It is never OK to leave a broody hen on a nest without fertile eggs. Sometimes they break themselves after a month or two but sometimes they never do and you lose them.
The elevated cage has been used for centuries and works perfectly.

Additionally, the longer a hen is broody, the longer before she will lay eggs again.

I had a lazy friend with a broody turkey hen she never tried to break. After 6 weeks or so, the hen couldn't move on her own. After $3,000 of vet bills and a couple weeks of physical therapy the hen died anyway. I know, I buried it for her.

Is she in the nest at night too?
If you take her out and put her on the ground does she drop right back down into a flattened out but fluffy pancake?
Does she then go cluckcluckcluckcluckcluckcluck real low as she makes her way back to the nest?
Those are sure signs of a broody hen....I can hear that clucking starting before she even goes to nest.

Here's how I break broody hens:
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.
Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.
Here's how I kit out a crate.
View attachment 1547510

No, don't leave her being broody. She will hardly eat and she could stay broody way longer than 3 weeks, even endangering her life. The sooner you break the broodiness, the better off for her and the sooner she'll start laying again.

Thank you all for your great responses. I wen tout to her as soon as I read this and took her out. She immediately started running around, pooped, and is now eating. I stayed with her for a while and I don't think she will go back in the nesting box. Thank you for letting me know that I could have endangered my chicken's life. Thank you for saving my baby!

 

[veery67eggy]

I checked on her soon after and she was in a nesting box (a different one this time). I took her out and she walked around, but then went back up. I'm thinking that when I go to tuck them in, I should take her out if she is still in there and put her on a roosting bar. It will be dark so she might not be able to go back to a nesting box. Is this a good idea?

 

[aart]

I checked on her soon after and she was in a nesting box (a different one this time). I took her out and she walked around, but then went back up. I'm thinking that when I go to tuck them in, I should take her out if she is still in there and put her on a roosting bar. It will be dark so she might not be able to go back to a nesting box. Is this a good idea?

You can try to keep tossing her out of the nest and putting her on the roost well after dark...but it may not do the trick. Go for the crate and get it over with.