Nasty hen????

[oultonhol]

Hey guys, I've searched through the forum
And haven't found much advice, so thought I would ask. I have a little bantam hen who is about one year and has been broody twice now. This time rather then try and break it, I thought I would let her give it a try. I purchased fertile eggs for her and she's proving herself to be a very dedicated mama by being very protective of her nest. She gets up to eat and drink, then quickly returns. She's very gentle with her eggs and I see that she moves them.

That said, we are having a serious issue. Another hen of mine, an Americauna (possible mix) is being a total brat to my broody hen. Kicking her out of the nesting box, picking on her, and has broken a few of her eggs. I've moved the box multiple times to ensure it's not the box she prefers to lay in AND not in the area which she likes to lay in, yet she STILL insists on pestering my broody and breaking the eggs. Why?? I'm so annoyed by it and have no clue what to do. Do I risk moving my broody to another area to keep her and the eggs separated? Do I seperate the mean hen (who is usually very nice)? None of the other hens have gone near her or bothered her, it's just this particular one. HELP! Her broody instinct is STRONG and she's very protective of her eggs, except when it comes to the americauna.

 

[javaferret]

Can you close off the nest box she is in? What we just did for our brooders was we made a lite wood frame (think rectangle box shape) covered all sides with left over hardware cloth and nailed it to the opening area of the nest box (we actually covered two boxes due to the way the out side hatches open, those two open with one lid, the other three open with the other lid.)
Our two blue ameraucanas actually stayed together and successfully hatched 5 out of 6 eggs. I did remove one of the girls, just due to worry that the lil ones would get smushed with the two girls in the small space. The removed one is actually still trying to mother the chicks on the other side of the wire and keeps all the other chickens away.

 

[Top Rooster]

What I would do is get a nest ready in your garage or somewhere out of access to the americuana but safe for the broody I don't think it's that much of a risk to move her and her eggs as it is already hard to break broodiness I've done it a few times and it's worked out fine you may want to separate her for 3 weeks or more so she is no longer in the pecking order so when she returns she will defend her chicks from hens higher than her instead of just running since she is broody she will be more aggressive and will be able to handle the other hens well enough and in the end she may end up being top Chicken

 

[javaferret]

Do you happen to have a photo of yours? I think I know what you mean but not positive. What about food and water for the hen? Wouldn't that trap her inside there?

I put in a water and a feeder in her segregated area, the ones I used back when she was a chick. I will see if I can figure out how to upload a pic.

 

[oultonhol]

Can you close off the nest box she is in? What we just did for our brooders was we made a lite wood frame (think rectangle box shape) covered all sides with left over hardware cloth and nailed it to the opening area of the nest box (we actually covered two boxes due to the way the out side hatches open, those two open with one lid, the other three open with the other lid.)
Our two blue ameraucanas actually stayed together and successfully hatched 5 out of 6 eggs. I did remove one of the girls, just due to worry that the lil ones would get smushed with the two girls in the small space. The removed one is actually still trying to mother the chicks on the other side of the wire and keeps all the other chickens away.

Do you happen to have a photo of yours? I think I know what you mean but not positive. What about food and water for the hen? Wouldn't that trap her inside there?

 

[oultonhol]

What I would do is get a nest ready in your garage or somewhere out of access to the americuana but safe for the broody I don't think it's that much of a risk to move her and her eggs as it is already hard to break broodiness I've done it a few times and it's worked out fine you may want to separate her for 3 weeks or more so she is no longer in the pecking order so when she returns she will defend her chicks from hens higher than her instead of just running since she is broody she will be more aggressive and will be able to handle the other hens well enough and in the end she may end up being top Chicken

I may have to do this. I was trying to avoid removing her as she's such a docile and sweet girl and already at the bottom of the chain. I'm so worried if I seperate her she will be an outcast and hard to reintroduce to the flock. She's been a little more on point with moodiness since becoming broody when it comes to humans (with the exception of me- she's my girl for sure) but still seems nice to the other hens. I'm just concerned they'll try and kill her if she's separated and reintroduced

 

[javaferret]

Kind of hard to see, but inside the "cage" the brooder and her chicks, outside is in the main coop and brooder #2 is still hovering and calling the chicks. She is much better now (will be week 3 on Monday).

 

[javaferret]

I may have to do this. I was trying to avoid removing her as she's such a docile and sweet girl and already at the bottom of the chain. I'm so worried if I seperate her she will be an outcast and hard to reintroduce to the flock. She's been a little more on point with moodiness since becoming broody when it comes to humans (with the exception of me- she's my girl for sure) but still seems nice to the other hens. I'm just concerned they'll try and kill her if she's separated and reintroduced

I was worried about that as well, and thats another reason we decided to keep her and the chicks in the main coop, everyone can see them but not eat them Hoping they are use to them by now!
There are some other threads with similar cornering off runs with chicken wire to give babies a safe area to escape older birds while they are get use to each other, you could also do that. Good luck!!!! It's nerve wreaking for sure!

 

[oultonhol]

View attachment 1018154
Kind of hard to see, but inside the "cage" the brooder and her chicks, outside is in the main coop and brooder #2 is still hovering and calling the chicks. She is much better now (will be week 3 on Monday).

That is an excellent idea!! I think I may try this. Thank you very much for your help