Is she broody?

[Little Chicken Mama]

My 5 and a half month white leg horn hen is acting wierd today. She has another egg under her wing but hasn't laid her own egg. Is she broody or just in the process of laying?

 

[azygous]

Broody hormones present with a lot of symptoms: Behavior changes from calm to agitated. The hen will be persistently vocal with a rapid, "cuk-cuk-cuk". She may pause from time to time and emit a piercing screech. She will have missing feathers along her keep bone, and will flatten herself in a nest with a low growl when touched.

 

[624444]

If she has been sitting on that nest and egg for over two days, hardly comes out of the nesting box, doesn’t want you out take her egg away, and pecks you when you try to get the egg, she might be broody.

However, if she just sat in the nest for a while only today, she might be laying an egg. Chickens like to lay eggs in nests that already have some eggs in it.

 

[Little Chicken Mama]

So she has just started sitting on them today and layed her 15 minutes ago and is still in the nesting box. When I pulled an egg out from under her and moved it to the side she tucked it right back under her. Is that a sign?

 

[624444]

So she has just started sitting on them today and layed her 15 minutes ago and is still in the nesting box. When I pulled an egg out from under her and moved it to the side she tucked it right back under her. Is that a sign?

From what your telling us, it sounds like she is broody.

 

[Little Chicken Mama]

Any tips on having a broody?

 

[624444]

Any tips on having a broody?

Well, breaking a broody is a bit hard…However, there are a few things you could do, to try to help her ‘forget’ and stop being broody.

1) Don’t allow her all day access to a nesting box, or other nesting materials such as straw, alfalfa, leaves, etc… for 5 days to a week.
Make sure she has laid her egg in the nesting box, before you restrict her access to the nesting box though!

2) Put a frozen water bottle in the nesting box. I have never personally tried this, but some people say this works also

These are the methods that I have heard/tried, but I believe that there are other people who know of more methods.

Good luck with your broody!

 

[azygous]

No. Tucking an egg under the body is what all hens will do. There are definite signs indicating broodiness. If they are present, (see post #2) you likely have a broody. If the signs are not present, you just have a hen taking a little extra time in a nest.

 

[Little Chicken Mama]

She is like screaming at me and puffs up whenever I come near her.

 

[624444]

She is like screaming at me and puffs up whenever I come near her.

She is definitely broody then.
The reason she is ‘screaming and puffing up’ is to ‘protect’ her eggs.

Unless you let her set on some fertile eggs and hatch them, you’ll have to use a method mentioned above, to break her broodiness.