My hen is laying in nest for days....no eggs?

[autkoe]

Looking for some advice..... My hen has been laying in her nest day and night for close to a week! She is not laying on eggs, in fact at this point she has only laid 1 in the the last 3 days. When I take her out, she is very fluffy, but moves fine, attacks the food and water and will stay in the run awhile, but then goes back in. Is she going through a false broodiness or could she be egg bound without the symptoms? Help please.

 

[sourland]

I'm not sure what you mean by 'false broodiness', but it sounds as if she is broody for sure.

 

[autkoe]

Can they be broody without eggs? She is not even laying, she generally lays every day.

 

[sourland]

Can they be broody without eggs? She is not even laying, she generally lays every day.

Absolutely can be broody without eggs, and they will stop laying once they become broody.

 

[autkoe]

Interesting, I didn't realize that. So really no worries? Just keep making her come out each day?

 

[Nupe]

If you have no plans to hatch any chicks right now, you'd be better off breaking her of it. Going broody takes a toll on a hen's body. I don't know where you're located but here we're heading into cooler weather. Not the best time to be losing body weight.

You can put her in an elevated wire bottom kennel with no nesting materials. Most would set the cage up on cinder blocks inside the coop so she doesn't lose her place in the flock. You want good airflow to her bottom and access to food and water. If you can, attach the food and water dish to the sides of the cage. They get rather cranky in there and will pretty much knock over everything. Offer her some treats by hand every day. It doesn't matter if she accepts them or not. If she puffs up like a turkey and clucks at you, she's still broody. When she goes back to being happy to see you (and treats) you can let her out and see where she ends up. If she heads back to the nest, put her back in the cage. Once her broodiness is broken, she should start laying again in a week or 2.