Hi there. I posted this in the wrong area, I guess. It was suggested I ask here.
I have an 11 month old Dominique hen that is puzzling me. About a week and a half ago she started disappearing. I would see her for only about ten - fifteen minutes a say, first thing in the morning with the other chickens at snack time and that was it. She wasn't dust bathing with them in the afternoon, or foraging with them around, and she didn't come into the coop at night. I assumed she was broody and had made a nest somewhere else. I caught her Sunday morning during snack time (actually caught the whole darn flock, chickens, ducks and guineas) and shut the lot of 'em up in the coop. I kept them in the coop for 72 hours and then let them out this morning. I watched her really closely to make sure she was staying with them. She stayed right by the other chickens (two dominique hens, a RIR hen, and a Dominique rooster - all the same age) for over an hour. But when I went back to shut them up for the night she was nowhere to be found.
My question is: do you all think she's broody, or she's just found another roost somewhere? I went out and banded all my girls tonight except her so that I could tell them apart next time I catch them. I was thinking about cooping her up in a broody box with a nest and fake eggs for a few days then giving her some eggs to hatch when / if she takes to it. Otherwise, I could keep her in there till she forgets about the other nest, if that is what's going on. Any ideas? I'm stumped on this one. Oh, recent history, a couple weeks before she started staying out all the time our guineas went nuts and were chasing and biting her. They bit her comb pretty badly. We now only have a pair of guineas. The excess males went off to freezer camp. Then the weekend before she took off we got four muscovy ducks. They pretty much keep to themselves. I haven't seen them bothering any of the other birds. Don't know if these things are relevant or not.
Traci
I have an 11 month old Dominique hen that is puzzling me. About a week and a half ago she started disappearing. I would see her for only about ten - fifteen minutes a say, first thing in the morning with the other chickens at snack time and that was it. She wasn't dust bathing with them in the afternoon, or foraging with them around, and she didn't come into the coop at night. I assumed she was broody and had made a nest somewhere else. I caught her Sunday morning during snack time (actually caught the whole darn flock, chickens, ducks and guineas) and shut the lot of 'em up in the coop. I kept them in the coop for 72 hours and then let them out this morning. I watched her really closely to make sure she was staying with them. She stayed right by the other chickens (two dominique hens, a RIR hen, and a Dominique rooster - all the same age) for over an hour. But when I went back to shut them up for the night she was nowhere to be found.
My question is: do you all think she's broody, or she's just found another roost somewhere? I went out and banded all my girls tonight except her so that I could tell them apart next time I catch them. I was thinking about cooping her up in a broody box with a nest and fake eggs for a few days then giving her some eggs to hatch when / if she takes to it. Otherwise, I could keep her in there till she forgets about the other nest, if that is what's going on. Any ideas? I'm stumped on this one. Oh, recent history, a couple weeks before she started staying out all the time our guineas went nuts and were chasing and biting her. They bit her comb pretty badly. We now only have a pair of guineas. The excess males went off to freezer camp. Then the weekend before she took off we got four muscovy ducks. They pretty much keep to themselves. I haven't seen them bothering any of the other birds. Don't know if these things are relevant or not.
Traci
