Is my pullet trying to go broody? Weird behaviours, newbie question!

[aart]

She's about 9 months old, I think...

It gets down to about 10 degrees Celsius, but that'd kinda be the absolute coldest it'll get around this area. It just gets so humid, rainy... Really wet. If it wouldn't be a danger to Little Star or the chicks, and there's a fair chance of the eggs actually hatching... I'm starting to lean towards letting her hatch some! We had no plans to do that at all at this stage, but considering she's gone so stubbornly broody anyway, maybe it'll be a cool thing to take the opportunity =D

10C is 50F....that's not even cold in my book.
It's about 50F here today and rained all day, the half the adult chooks have been out in the rain all day and look like 'drowned rats'....hahaha....but they're fine.
4 week old chicks stayed inside tho.

9 months is young for a pendulous crop, mostly older birds get it.
Is the crop emptying overnight?
Are her poops OK?
Might want to crate her for a day or two to observe and monitor her feed/water consumption, crop level, and poops.

 

[ticketism]

It certainly never gets so cold that outside water sources start freezing over. I've never had that problem in my life, except maybe when I was a little kid and lived in Tasmania (the most southern part of the Great Southern Land, haha, generally always the coldest state). That's definitely not an issue then. What about the wetness and humidity?

 

[ticketism]

She seems to be pooping fine, and I've found some truly impressive whoppers almost the size of an egg in the run. I assumed they were hers on her brief forays out of the box, coz there's not any building up in there. Hard to tell who's is who's though, really. I'm not sure if her crop is emptying overnight, I'll check tomorrow morning and let you know.

 

[aart]

She seems to be pooping fine, and I've found some truly impressive whoppers almost the size of an egg in the run. I assumed they were hers on her brief forays out of the box, coz there's not any building up in there. Hard to tell who's is who's though, really. I'm not sure if her crop is emptying overnight, I'll check tomorrow morning and let you know.

Whoppers could be her broody poops...broodies drop some bombs, only 'going' once a day.
Why you'd isolate her to make sure you're looking at the right poop....and to withhold feed until morning crop check.

 

[ticketism]

That might be the best bet, just to eliminate the variables and make sure she's doing okay. Being broody seems like it must be tough on the poor things, and she doesn't even have any chance of getting those babies her body is apparently telling her she wants so badly xD

Another question: Is it possible that the broodiness was brought on by a change in her normal habits? I'm wondering if being confined to the coop for a while because of a snake sighting, when she usually came out to free-range nearly all day almost every day could have provoked the change. She complained the most out of anyone to start with, just squawking and complaining all day, and then she just started fluffing up, getting nippy and spending all her time in the nesting box. She's always been a little bit stubborn, heh, likes to get her way. Is there such a thing as being so sulky they go broody?

 

[aart]

That might be the best bet, just to eliminate the variables and make sure she's doing okay. Being broody seems like it must be tough on the poor things, and she doesn't even have any chance of getting those babies her body is apparently telling her she wants so badly xD

Another question: Is it possible that the broodiness was brought on by a change in her normal habits? I'm wondering if being confined to the coop for a while because of a snake sighting, when she usually came out to free-range nearly all day almost every day could have provoked the change. She complained the most out of anyone to start with, just squawking and complaining all day, and then she just started fluffing up, getting nippy and spending all her time in the nesting box. She's always been a little bit stubborn, heh, likes to get her way. Is there such a thing as being so sulky they go broody?

Exactly!

Broodiness can be hard on their bodies, that's why if you aren't going to let her hatch you should break her broodiness.
You could use the crate to break her broodiness at the same time you are evaluating her input/output.
If crate is large enough (so she can get up stretch/poop) you could also use it to let her set and hatch some eggs.

Eh... not sure that change would spur broodiness, but maybe<shrugs>.

 

[ticketism]

Okay, after a few attempts at gently breaking her broodiness, Little Star has proven herself very determined and we've decided she's up to the task. So last night we got her some fertile eggs.

Giving them to her was both touching, and hilarious xD I picked her up out of the box (as I'm not bothered to get a peck and she has been good at defending her imaginary babies, haha) while my partner loaded it up with fertile eggs. As I was holding Little Star, my partner very carefully put the eggs in one at a time. Mum-to-be watched very closely, following every eggs with her eyes, then started doing this funny slow motion flapping whilst making a high pitched 'purring' kind of noise xD I gently put her back in the box next to the eggs, and without hesitation she fluffed up, spread her wings and legs, and slowly, carefully, shuffled herself over on top of them. She wiggled around a little, then sat down with such a zen expression on her face - She looked more relaxed than she has since she started going broody.

I accidentally cracked one whilst marking them, and was initially worried... But BYC to the rescue! Some clear nail polish to patch it up, and under the butt it goes. Fingers crossed that it wasn't too damaged and the chick will still develop just fine.

She is now sitting on 8 Welsummer eggs, and both mum and bubs seem to be doing well. So far, so good! I'm monitoring her closely, and hopefully in 3 weeks there'll be a bunch of tiny cute chicks =D

She came out of the nest for about half an hour today, then tucked herself back in. She might just be a natural at this. Pretty exciting! This will be our first hatch ever, so it'll be really cool if all goes to plan and we get to have our very first hatching experience the 'Ol fashioned way, purely because one of our girls decided she was ready to take the next big life step, haha.

Wish us luck! Any tips or advice is very welcomed.

 

[ticketism]

Oh I forgot to mention - She's still in the main coop, brooding in the nesting box. We didn't want to move her and possibly break the broody or otherwise upset her, so we're seeing how it goes. Previously, our buff Orpington had taken to sleeping in the box with Little Star, but now Miss Broody isn't having any of that and doesn't let anyone else sleep in there with her. She's still letting her sister, Chai, come in to lay eggs... Which she then steals to sit on xD Chai is our little wonder chicken, she started laying at 18 weeks almost on the dot, and has barely skipped a day since. Every single egg Chai has laid has been perfect, with one double yolker about a fortnight after she started laying. Chai is a very capable and pragmatic flock leader, and seems to know exactly what is going on. She's our only other layer and she's slowed right down due to the time of year, so I guess we can expect no eggs for a while until it warms back up. By which time, the others will be well and truly ready to lay so we'll probably end up with excess. No one has been bothering Little Star, but as I mentioned, I am monitoring her and if the state of things change (as flock politics tend to) then we can move her elsewhere to ensure everyone's comfort and safety. I'm actually kind of looking forward to building a great custom made brooder/grow out space that we can use again and again for broodies, hatching, and chicks. I'd like to make the process all very easy and streamlined. Good excuse to get to work on a cool new constructive project =)

 

[TheTwoRoos]

You can by chicks and rub her scent across them and put them under her.

 

[aart]

Oh I forgot to mention - She's still in the main coop, brooding in the nesting box. We didn't want to move her and possibly break the broody or otherwise upset her, so we're seeing how it goes. Previously, our buff Orpington had taken to sleeping in the box with Little Star, but now Miss Broody isn't having any of that and doesn't let anyone else sleep in there with her. She's still letting her sister, Chai, come in to lay eggs... Which she then steals to sit on xD Chai is our little wonder chicken, she started laying at 18 weeks almost on the dot, and has barely skipped a day since. Every single egg Chai has laid has been perfect, with one double yolker about a fortnight after she started laying. Chai is a very capable and pragmatic flock leader, and seems to know exactly what is going on. She's our only other layer and she's slowed right down due to the time of year, so I guess we can expect no eggs for a while until it warms back up. By which time, the others will be well and truly ready to lay so we'll probably end up with excess. No one has been bothering Little Star, but as I mentioned, I am monitoring her and if the state of things change (as flock politics tend to) then we can move her elsewhere to ensure everyone's comfort and safety. I'm actually kind of looking forward to building a great custom made brooder/grow out space that we can use again and again for broodies, hatching, and chicks. I'd like to make the process all very easy and streamlined. Good excuse to get to work on a cool new constructive project =)

Best of cLuck to you and broody!
I assume, because you marked the fertile eggs, that you are removing any newly laid daily?
Keep an eye(and nose) on the egg with repaired crack,
although it might be sealed against bacteria and be fine in an incubator, it might not hold up structurally under a broody hen.