Is she broody?

[SaltandPenny]

This is a picture of my bantam hen on her nest in our rabbit hutch.she stays on the nest for about 25-30 minutes and then goes back to her sister for 2-5 minutes and then she runs back to her nest.there are no eggs under her, becuase I hadn't collected them for 2 days and just collected them this morning.

 

[TwoCrows]

If she is spending a lot of time sitting in the box, she growls at you when you try to move her out, bites at you if you look under her, screams at you when you do lift her up, and when she comes out of the nest she is cluck cluck clucking all over the place....then you have a broody! They don't have to be setting on anything to be broody. They will brood their feet if that is all they have to set on!

It is not easy to break them of broodiness. Some people use wire broody cages to help cool off the brood patch or even a cold water broody dunking to cool off their temperature. If they aren't too broody, you can lock them out of the coop for the day and sometimes this works. But when a hens hormones get going, it is hard to persuade them to not want to set on eggs. I have tried all the above in vain with my determined broodies. I just let them do their thing and generally they will give up in a week, (as long as they set on nothing) and get back to laying fairly quick.

Good luck with your flock and enjoy BYC!

 

[sourland]

She may be starting to go broody. When she sets on the nest overnight she is probably committed to being broody.

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Good luck!

 

[Kelsie2290]

Hello and Welcome To BYC!

 

[chickencoop789]

Welcome!

 

[drumstick diva]

If she decides she really is broody, you could buy some fertile eggs and slip them under her, so she can hatch them.

 

[gander007]