We have three hens, and no rooster. They were all laying just fine, then Bashful decided she just wants to sit and sleep on the nest, with or without an egg. We move her but she gets rite back up there after a quick bite and water. She is so stiff in the morning that it takes her awhile to get her legs going...Whats going on, anybody have any ideas?
Do you shut them up at night and are back out early in the a.m. to let them out? If you are - block the nests at night and open back up in the morning. But you HAVE to do it early or they will start laying on the floor. When you gotta lay.............you gotta LAY
Sounds like she may be going broody on you. Does she 'growl' and fluff up when you get near her? Does she get off the nest at all without you forcing her too? If she only gets off for a few minutes (up to a 1/2 hour) during the day then I'd say she's wanting to be a momma!
If she want's to be a mama, wouldn't you think she would have the itchin for a rooster? We have never had one.. so where does the mama thing come from? Hereditary? We also have to move her during the day, so she can get excercise, or she stiffens up...
Some breeds are just more broody than others. I have a few 12 week olds and they had been sleeping on the floor in a huddle together from 6 weeks up to about 11. They tried out the roost for a week and then I found them all together in a nest box (4 - 12 week olds). It was no way cool in their coop so I don't know what go into them. Now they are back on the roost. It was just a trial thing.
Shastagoose wrote: If she want's to be a mama, wouldn't you think she would have the itchin for a rooster? Going broody has nothing to do with a rooster. It is instilled in hens, it can be more predominant in certain breeds due to heredity/genetics just as it has been bred out of most breeds so mankind can have more eggs. If a broody is sitting, she isn't laying eggs and most people want the eggs... not new chicks. A broody will sit on fertile eggs (if you have a rooster you probably have fertile eggs), non fertile eggs (if you don't have a rooster the eggs are not fertile and cannot grow into a chick), golfballs, fake eggs -- even nothing! I'm not sure if MsBentleyboy was trying to describe broodies but what she described is not broody behavior. That was just teenage behavior of chicks trying to figure out where the best place to sleep is. You do not need to move your broody - she will not stiffen up. She was made to sit there for weeks without hurting herself as long as she gets food and water she will be just fine. Almost all broodies will get up off their nest once a day to get food, water and go poo. Do you have access to fertile eggs? (I had some mailed to me from a fellow BYCer when my hen went broody as I don't have a rooster.) Do you want her to hatch chicks? If you don't want her to hatch chicks then you should try to break her of being broody. The best suggestion that I've heard, that has actually worked per several people on this board, is to put her in a wire dog crate. Do not give her ANY nesting materials, only food and water. After a few days, possible a week, she should get over it and be ready to go back to the flock and start laying eggs again.
Quote:They could have gotten startled by something and began to panic, found the nest box and they feel safe seeings the one on the bottom of the pile is more then likely the safest.