Hello! I am new to owning chickens, I am a week and a half in! I adopted two hens from a farm. One of the hens was missing most of the feathers on her back from the rooster but the other one is beautifully filled out. They hatched last June. Unfortunately the filled out one was bullying the one missing feathers and pecked quite a large wound in the other so I gave the one back to the farm for now so the other can heel. I ended up finding this site when I was researching what to do with my hen because she hasn't eaten or drank anything in two days now. She just sits in her nest box and stopped laying eggs about 4 days ago. I put water and an apple near her to see if she would peck at it at all and she didn't. She is extremely terrified of humans so whenever I stick my hand in the coop she runs. Today I stuck my hand in there and she ran down to the bottom and I saw her take a few bites of food and a couple sips of water but she ended up going back to her nesting box after only a few minutes. It is colder here today so I don't want to force her to stay down there but I am really worried about her. So that is what brought me to this website so I could see if there was any information on what I should try! I'm excited to learn and hopefully can help this hen out! Thank you to all the contributors to this site for putting it together and having all these great resources! I am so excited to learn more about chickens!
Sounds like she is broody----You know signs of a broody? Does she stay in the nest box at night too? If so you got any fertile eggs you want hatched----if not break her broodiness.
G’Day from down under firsttimmehenmom Welcome! I agree with PD-Riverman in that she sounds like she is broody. My other thought, as she is now a single chicken, is that she could be pining for company but usually they walk around, calling out for company so, yeah, broody sounds more like it. Chickens that have been used to company do not usually like being on their own but if she is broody, she will not mind so much. As suggested, after determining if she is in fact broody, I recommend giving her some fertile eggs so that she can raise some chicks which will become her company or if you do not want to go down that track, break her from her broodiness and takes steps to find her some company. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. I hope you enjoy being a BYC member. There are lots of friendly and very helpful folks here so not only is it overflowing with useful information it is also a great place to make friends and have some fun. You might want to also pop in and say hello on your local thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/f/26/where-am-i-where-are-you ‘Find your State’s thread.
Hi and welcome to BYC. Maybe you could check with the farm what breed she is and whether his girls go broody? Best wishes CT
Broody hens are very reluctant to leave their nest - to the point they can starve themselves. They usually have to be physically removed 2 or 3 times a day so they can eat, drink and potty. Since she is so fearful, you may just want to put food & water near her, so she can partake while staying with her eggs.
Thank you all so much! I did get her down to where food and water was today and she drank and ate a lot so I feel so much better knowing that it could possibly be brooding! I was worried because of her injury, once she is healed the farmer said I could take another hen from her flock so she has company! She has not called out at all for another hen, the first day I got her she was the first hen in the coop and the other was up top so I have heard her call for another hen before and she hasn't done that so Hopefully she isn't minding so much right now. Thank you again for your advice!
