One of my girls won't leave the nesting box.

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cathyjbeck

cathyjbeck

Hatching
Aug 26, 2015
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Hello, everyone! I just joined the group and am happy to hear from you! We got our first chickens in December as a surprise Christmas gift so we really hadn't prepared. This summer my husband built this awesome coop and run. Four weeks ago we bought 6 more chicks and put them out in the coop last week. They are in a separate area from the big girls, of course but it's just a chicken wire fence that separates them. We want the elders to get used to seeing the babies. But starting last week, one of my buff Orpingtons started acting as if she is brooding. In a reply to someone else's question about integrating young hens with older hens someone suggested that the chicken in the nesting box shouldn't be trusted and that she is probably there to just watch the youngsters waiting for a time when she can harm them. She won't let me near her and she stays there even if there isn't an egg under her. Should I be concerned? Will she starve to death or wilt away to nothing? Is she going to murder my chicks as soon as she can get her sharp little beak on them?
 
Welcome to the BYC flock! Glad you've joined us!

Any chance that hen of your is broody? Could explain why she does not want to leave the nest and does not want you anywhere near it. This article might help you determine if you hen is broody and what you can do about it. You can also search "broody hen" and find additional information here on BYC.
 
I have a buff orpington that does that every couple months it seems,stays in her box and act depressed,but not broody. I just show give her more attention,and if she lets me,I take her out of the box and hold her. This usually only lasts a couple of days,maybe a week then back to her old self
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I don't know if holdin and petting her is the right thing to do,but I love my girls and it seems to help.good luck
 
Hello there and welcome to BYC!
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Sounds like she is broody. Does she puff up at you, growl, raise her hackles at you if you reach in the box? Does she cluck cluck cluck all over the place when she is out of the box? If so, she is no doubt broody. They can sit on nothing and be broody. Even a pile of rocks will work when they are all hormonally broody. Ha! There are ways to break broodies, however sometimes it is easier to just let it run it's course for a couple of weeks and they give up. Unless you have a rooster and WANT chicks, in which case you can put some eggs under her and she will hatch them.

As for chicks being integrated into an adult flock, you are doing right by letting everybody get to know everybody from behind wire. Keep the chicks separated until they are at least 3 months or more of age. Any younger and they can be harmed by the adults. The adult birds are probably ignoring them for now, but once you mix, their could be trouble. When you do mix them all together, make sure to put out more feed and watering stations. In a few places too. The older birds can literally starve out the chicks of food and water. It takes several months new birds to get completely mixed in to a new flock.

Good luck and we do welcome you to our flock!
 
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If she is truly broody and won't leave the nest - you have to physically put her out so she can eat, drink and poop., at least 2-3 times a day. Some broodies will starve themselves rather than leave the nest (even for invisible eggs) I've have never heard of them hanging back so they can attack new birds.
 
Thanks for your help. I was hoping if I waited awhile to respond I'd be able to say that she has stopped but now there are two of them doing it and for the first hen, it's been over three weeks since she started. I have to physically push them out and close the coop door to stop them from coming straight back in. I'll keep the thread updated on any progress or lack thereof.
 
My two brooders act as if they want to kill me for taking them off the nest! I will try to hold them and see what happened.
 
I now have two brooders. The first one, who I think is the head hen, has been sitting there for over three weeks now. I put them out of the coop daily and close the door but as soon as they can, back up they go!
Someone told my son to put the new chickens in the same coop at night after the others have gone to sleep and in the morning they will act as if they've always been there. My son did that and it worked for him. I'm not ready to do that. I think I wait a few more weeks. They will be 12 weeks by then. Thanks for your advise.
 

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