Is This Kind of Broodiness Normal and How Do I Stop It?

[citychickinthecountry]

I have a Red Cochin Bantam that has gone broody. We have 2 other Bantam hens in the same coop with her (130 sq ft of coop...so there's more than enough room). The Red Cochin (Buttercup) sits on the other hen's eggs when we don't get then from the nest right away. We remove the eggs twice a day (morning and evening, or whenever we see them).

For about the past week, I've noticed that Buttercup has been sitting on the nest, even when there are no eggs in it, all puffed up, and squawks at the other hens when they come near her (but will let us doing anything to her like move her off of the nest, pet her). She doesn't peck at them though. She'll come out the free range for about 5 minutes, all the while she's clucking like she does when she's laying an egg, but then she'll run full speed back to the coop and go to the nest. She puffs up just like she's laying an egg.

Buttercup appears to be eating and drinking because she's pooping and we definitely know that she's eating grass and bugs when she free ranges.

So, long story short, is the constant clucking normal? Is this a normal kind of broodiness for a Cochin? How do I stop her from being broody?

 

[midget_farms]

Sounds normal - really hard to break up a broody hen - she has probably already stopped laying at this point. The only way I know how to do it is lock her out of the nest. That doesn't always work either.

 

[jen5680]

I have read on other posts that if you put them in some kind of wire cage were the air
will get up under them that this will help stop them from being broody.
I have never tried this but i have read it alot????

forgot to add that the noise you hear her making is normal. Everything you have said about her
is normal for a broody hen.
I think you should give her eggs and let her do her thing!! LOL!

 

[citychickinthecountry]

Oddly enough, she's still laying eggs...one a day or one every other day (as always). She's our sweetest hen too.

The nest that she' brooding in is in a smaller coop that we lock the girls in at night for protection (with it's own smaller water and food container). What I'll do is lock that coop during the day when we let the girls out in the big coop or out to free range. They'll just have to lay their eggs in the other nest in the coop that they use sometimes. If this doesn't work, then I'll try the wire cage idea. I read abotu that on another post too.

Silly girls.

Now, do other hens tend to become broody when one hen in the group is broody (or is this just an individual behavior)?

I'm not really concerned, I'm just wanting her to get her little butt out of the small coop, enjoy the warmer weather

, and stop being so rude to the other two hens.

Supposedly, there is one roo in the group of chicks that I just got (which are almost 2 weeks old). Maybe next spring I'll let her hatch one egg. Although, we're about at our limit right now...13 chickens (3 adult hens and 10 chicks...should be 9 hens and 1 roo in the group of chicks). I love babies, but working full-time makes it rough to come back home every day at lunch and check on them, especially since I know they dirty their water constantly.