My first flock - and my first 'broody' hen?

[GarufaGirl]

Hi Everyone! I'm a first-time chicken 'mom'. My girls started laying at the first of this month (August) and I appear to have my first broody hen already (a Barred Rock). I don't have a rooster, so there's nothing for her to hatch. Is it okay to just leave her be? Is there anything I should be doing? She's friendly and did not mind it when I picked her up this morning. I took her out to where the feed/water is, and she stood there for a bit, and then returned to the nesting box.
Thank you in advance for any advice!!
Michele

 

[3KillerBs]

Welcome to BYC and the world of chickens.

If you're not going to let her hatch, it's better to break a broody. Sitting is hard on her health.

Here is an excellent article on broodies: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rst-turkey-strut-to-weaning-the-chicks.76878/

 

[GarufaGirl]

Welcome to BYC and the world of chickens.

If you're not going to let her hatch, it's better to break a broody. Sitting is hard on her health.

Here is an excellent article on broodies: https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rst-turkey-strut-to-weaning-the-chicks.76878/

Thank you so much! I guess I'll be out shopping for a wire dog crate this afternoon!

 

[BackyardBradshaw]

Hi Everyone! I'm a first-time chicken 'mom'. My girls started laying at the first of this month (August) and I appear to have my first broody hen already (a Barred Rock). I don't have a rooster, so there's nothing for her to hatch. Is it okay to just leave her be? Is there anything I should be doing? She's friendly and did not mind it when I picked her up this morning. I took her out to where the feed/water is, and she stood there for a bit, and then returned to the nesting box.
Thank you in advance for any advice!!
Michele

I'm a first-timer as well and just went through this with one of my girls. It took about 2 MONTHS to break her of it. Our eggs are fertilized, but she definitely didn't know what she was doing. She'd lay on eggs for a few days until she saw a pile she liked better then would move to the other eggs lol. It got to the point where she stopped laying, wasn't eating or drinking and started pulling her breast feathers out.
To help break her, I would take her out of the nesting box every day and walk her to the farthest waterer across the yard and feed her away from the coop. I also started to set her in the swimming pool, just enough to cool her chest, once per day. She finally snapped back to reality one day, but now we're dealing with the rest of the flock casting her out.
I'm not sure if any of this helps, just wanted to share from one beginner to another.