Is my hen sick or broody?

[MegUrk]

We're still fairly new to chickening (our babies are just over a year old) and haven't had a hen go broody yet, so we're not sure if that's all this is or if we've got an illness in the coop.

Our buff Orpington hen has lost a lot of feathers on her back over the past few months, which we attributed to our rooster during normal mating behaviours.

This week, however, she has been in her nesting box when we come in to feed them, which is unusual as normally all the chickens are milling about in the coop at feeding time. When she has come out to eat, the rooster and the other hen in their side of the coop have chased her and bitten at her. She has not laid an egg in about a week.

Today, she didn't even come out of the box to eat. She was squawking at us and puffing up when we looked in on her. We removed her to check for an egg. There was none. She ate a little but remained puffed up and then took a dust bath, which we rarely see her do.

She has also had very large bowel movements the last two days while I was in there to feed. (Like, nearly the size of her normal eggs...)

If she's broody, we can handle it. We're just worried she's sick. Advice?

 

[N F C]

That sounds like broody behavior to me (sitting on the nest a lot, puffing up, large poops, etc.). Buff Orps can be pretty broody as a breed. Are you hoping for fertile eggs and chicks or are you wanting to break her broodiness?

 

[MegUrk]

We want to break it if she's broody. That was my first hunch but I thought it weird that she'd gone broody and hadn't laid an egg...

 

[N F C]

We had our 1st experience with broodiness a couple weeks ago. One of our Black Australorps started acting just like what you are describing. BYC to the rescue! I found a really helpful thread (link below) and the method described in it took care of our BA's behavior. Hope it works for you!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/181289/how-to-break-a-broody-hen

 

[MegUrk]

Thanks! I realized when I clicked on it that I'd actually read that article before I posted.

Is it typical for coop-mates to bully a broody hen?

 

[N F C]

What I observed with our broody BA was that she was giving the other birds a bad time (charging them and acting aggressive). And she cackled, all the time. Her behavior seemed to irritate the other birds and some of the more dominant ones were trying to put the broody back in her place.

 

[MegUrk]

This all seems like exactly what we've got. We actually had some improvement today. Last evening we removed an insulation wall from our broody hen's nesting box and exposed her hiding spot from the front. When we fed this evening she was not in the box, but milling about in the coop with the others! Yay! She's still acting aggressively toward the other chickens in her coop, but they don't put up with it. I think we may have broken the broody!

 

[theoldchick]

Broody:





Screaming broody:



Fuzzed up broody:




Non Broody: No flare response to a direct challenge.



Just laying my egg! I ain't broody!

 

[aart]

Screaming broody:

LMAO!!

 

[krista74]

LMAO!!

X 2

I had 6 out of 8 hens go broody on me this Summer, some of them several times over.

I can almost 'hear' the screeching of them just looking at those pictures!


- Krista