MY BUFF ORPINGTON HAS STOPPED LAYING IS SHE SICK

[coloradobuff]

MY BUFF ORPINGTON WHO IS 13 MONTHS OLD HAS STOPPED LAYING EGGS SHE SITS ON THE NEST BOX DAY AND NIGHT SHE PECKS ME WHEN I TAKE HER OFF THE NEST AND SHE PUFFS HERSELF UP AND HISSES AT ME.WHEN REMOVED FROM THE NEST SHE STAYS PUFFED UP WALKS AROUND AND RETURNS TO NEST I ONLY HAVE 2 CHICKENS AS i NEVER OWNED BACKYARD CHICKENS BEFORE I THOUGHT MAYBE SHE HAS AN EGG STUCK I CHECKED NO ENDS THERE.WHAT DO i DO SHE LAYS ON THE OTHER CHICKENS EGG AFTER SHE LAYS HERS HELP!! i READ IF AN EGG IS STUCK IT CAN KILL THEM ANY ADVICE GREATLY APPRECIATED.

 

[sumi]

That hen is broody. Very broody from the sounds of it. You have 2 options: give her some fertile eggs to hatch and expand your flock a little, or break her broodiness by placing her in a wire bottom cage for a few days with only food and water.

 

[realsis]

I got a broody right now too it must be contagious! iI might try the cage thing if I can get one with a wire bottom. my cage had a wooden bottom and won't work. Good luck.

 

[coloradobuff]

Thanks for the advice if i get her eggs to hatch will the other hen try to kill the chicks?

 

[chickenlover286]

Same with me, but weirder, So far we have 11 hatched chicks, but shes not laying on her eggs! we have guineas and shes actually laying on those and they are hatching, its actually really funny. Your hen is Broody

 

[coloradobuff]

my hen who was broody is now laying again and back to herself .
Now my biggest problem is the heat out here in Loveland Colorado its hitting upper 90's and will be 100 today I have tried ice in the waterers and wetting the ground any other suggestions greatly appreciated thx

 

[Percheron chick]

They don't like the heat but they'll survive. I give mine a litter box with water in it, they have a pit dug out and filled with water a few times a day, give them lots of shade (throw a tarp over part of the run if nothing else), cut the corn treats out (produces a ton of heat in digestion that's why it's so good as a bedtime snack in the winter) and I have a ziplock bag in the freezer that I keep all their kitchen scraps in. Frozen watermellon rind or squash gets extra water in them as well as giving them a cold treat.