One Broody Bantam hen and they all stop laying ??

[confusedbanti]

I need some help , since I am totally new at this. I have 5 Banty Hens and one Rooster (Charlie) 3 are white Leghorns and 2 are New Hampshire reds. They are all about 7 months old . 4 Days ago the little Red one refused to get out of her Nest. I first thought she might be sick. Then I read that she might be broody and wants to sit on the eggs. So I am leaving her alone letting her do her thing . But ever since she is sitting on that nest all others completely stopped laying. Just like that ! What is going on ?? (there are enough nesting boxes) Please give me some advise. I am getting worried that I am doing something wrong.

Thank you !

 

[CMV]

That is odd. I'd be doing a bug check on the lot of them because this is not the right time of year for everyone to go on strike unless there is a problem. If a bug check turns up negative then I would start doing poop checks for overt signs of worms. If the poop check comes up negative then I would be looking for signs egg-eating. If you continue to have negative answers then I would be looking for some signs of pests/predators getting in and stealing eggs. If that is unlikely, then I am afraid that I am stumped. They should not all be stopping laying just because one bird goes broody.

 

[confusedbanti]

What in heavens name is a bug check ? Do I buy a Kit of some sorts ? I will check the poop tomorrow am. What are signs of egg eating ? Would the eat the egg and shell ?

 

[Harrietsmum]

Have you looked under your broody to see what she is sitting on? If she is broody she will collect everyones eggs to sit on as well.

 

[Year of the Rooster]

Quote:
^This. Your broody is probably stealing the other eggs.

 

[ellieroo]

Quote:
When a hen goes broody esp bantys everyone lays in that nest.How many eggs did she start out with ?? I have seen poor hens sitting 6 little eggs that magically became 16

Right now I have 9 tiny babies that hatched on Easter However the nest contained 17 eggs! Another banty hen joined the first last week so both have been sitting. So I moved nine babies and mom to spot on the floor and also moved the 2nd hen to the same corner with the eggs.She is sitting on the eggs and mom #1 is in charge of the babies. This is the 3rd time for this kind of chick rearing!

 

[CMV]

Sorry, I am an old poultry keeper at this point and forget that there are folks just starting out.

A bug check is an inspection for external parasites. I am including a great link to identifying the most common poultry parasites. Hopefully it works because it has been acting wonky the last couple days.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/vme-fact/0018.html

This is a link to the 2 most common external parasites in poultry. You need to look for signs of these little buggers. Lice are nasty and inconvenient, but mites can be deadly if left unchecked for any length of time. The first sign I had of mites was when my hens suddenly stopped laying. I almost lost my flock to these by the time I realized I had a problem. Check carefully. Mites are incredibly hard to see.

Egg eating will leave few signs behind because when your birds are eating eggs they will eat the whole thing- shell and all. The only signs you will see is a bit of yellowed bedding, and maybe some pieces. I have always just seen the yellow shavings (I use pine shavings as bedding) in the nesting boxes.

 

[confusedbanti]

Thank you CMV ! I will check out the link tonight and inspect the ladies tomorrow am. The hen house and run are right outside my Garden and I kept on checking on them all day today. Could not see predators. The broody one started with 3 eggs 4 days ago and there are still 3 eggs there....

 

[Novaleigh]

I have had the EXACT same problem!!! One hen went broody, and they all stopped laying! I went from 8 to 10 eggs a day to 0 for a week straight! The broody hen has no additional eggs, so I know for a fact that she has not collected anyone elses eggs. Parasite and bug check went well. There are no problems there. It was as if a magic thing happened, like some sort of message sent out from the broody girl "Don't lay eggs!" and they listened. Crazy.

 

[Sleepy71]

I went through this for a while. 1 broody bantam, then the rest stop or slowed their laying activity. I have 2 nesting boxes, too. Then, the other bantam went broody, so it got bad. Then, I pulled both bantams and put them in an airy cage, so they couldn't keep warm. I left them there for about 3 days, and that broke them from the broodiness. (I learned that trick here on BYC)