My chicken is hissing at me!!

[Kwimmer78]

I have a 15 month old Jersey Giant, and for the past day or so, she has not left the eggs. This may be normal, but she is also having odd behavior when I open the coop. She will fluff the feathers on the back of her next and extend her tail, while opening her beak and hissing at me. I don't know what is wrong with her! She is normally very tame.

 

[TattooedChicks]

Sounds like she has gone broody! I hear they can turn into really monstrous creatures when they decide to sit.

 

[keesmom]

Definitely broody. You can let her hatch, or try to break her with a broody buster. I've got a Cochin hen I'm trying to break. She is not being cooperative.

 

[Kwimmer78]

@keesmom
We don't have a rooster, so she won't hatch, should I just keep waiting?

 

[keesmom]

@keesmom
We don't have a rooster, so she won't hatch, should I just keep waiting?

You could get fertile eggs for her to hatch if you really want, but if you want her laying again fairly soon you should try to break her. The longer it goes on the harder it is to stop.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

It can go on for a long time - weeks upon weeks. I had one sitting on an empty nest and let her be because I didn't care. Then I started putting eggs under her, but after a while she'd change nests. I eventually said enough and broke her.

 

[GYSOT]

How do you break them of this? I have 2 doing this. One will let me roll her to on side to get the eggs. The other pecks and will not move or allow me to get close. Need some help. They are each sitting on about 6-8 eggs. They are not fertile.

 

[laceychicken]

I pick my broody hens up and take them out of the nest so they have to walk a fair distance back to their nest.... passing food along the way. (They usually eat and drink a little .)This will go on for a couple of weeks. I do it at least 2x a day or more if I have time. They finally get over it. Take the eggs away . She might get upset. She is harmless. Often the other hens will give her a hard time out in the yard. I stand around and kind of protect her if this happens. Eventually everything gets back to normal.

 

[GYSOT]

I pick my broody hens up and take them out of the nest so they have to walk a fair distance back to their nest.... passing food along the way. (They usually eat and drink a little .)This will go on for a couple of weeks. I do it at least 2x a day or more if I have time. They finally get over it. Take the eggs away . She might get upset. She is harmless. Often the other hens will give her a hard time out in the yard. I stand around and kind of protect her if this happens. Eventually everything gets back to normal.

She pecks me like crazy. I guess I'll try and put on my grilling gloves...
..

 

[21hens-incharge]

You could also set up a broody area and see if she will adopt a couple of day old chicks.
My cochin rejects chicks if I take them to her. If I take her to them she is a super good mom.
I wait til she has been sitting for about 3 weeks that way her hormones are telling her that chicks should be there soon.

Sometimes simply moving the hen to an area she cannot get back to her preferred nest is enough to disrupt the broody cycle. If you want to break her that is.

My cochin with this years chicks.