Orpington suddenly seems agitated after bringing home new chicks

[Cainjeremy17]

i have a buff Orpington who is about a year old. She is not our only chicken, but she was attacked by the others and separated out in her own coop( long story, rookie error). We now got some new chicks that I have built yet another coop for because reintroducing the one chicken wasn’t successful for me. Ever since we goth the chicks old enough to go out into their coop, our buff Orpington went from super sweet to super cranky. She has stayed in her nesting box, and puffs up anytime I get close to her. Anyone have any suggestions? I thought maybe she wanted chicks of her own, so I had read in a book that a hen can foster chicks. So I bought a couple for her and she ignores them. I’m still a rookie, and looking for help.

 

[Queensilkie]

She sounds like she's just gone broody! Most hens will. Broodiness is just when they attempt to 'hatch' the eggs they have laid, even if they aren't fertile! It's completely normal, and she'll probably snap out of it in a few days. Just make sure you take her out and be sure she eats and drinks daily. That will help break the broodiness. In this case, i think it is probably unrelated to your chickies! (Also the puffing up and occasional screeching noises are part of most hen's broody routine. It's a built in protect-my-chicks response)
Hope this helps!

 

[Cainjeremy17]

This is super helpful. This is my wife’s favorite and we both have been worried. I’m glad to hear that this will pass as well. Thank you so much.

 

[Hensndoes]

I'm going to disagree with previous advice. Yes she is likely broody. No she will likely not snap out of it in a few days. If that were the case there wouldn't be hundreds of threads on here asking how to break a broody. Broody is hormonal and seems contagious.

So. Don't hold your breath it will pass. Can you house chicks separate from the main flock for her to hatch and raise? Do you have fertile eggs? If not can you set her up privately and keep her happy and giver her day old chicks in 3 weeks? Again in a safe place away from threat of main flock hens. If none of this is appealing to you then you should break her for her own health.

 

[Queensilkie]

From experience, broodiness can come from many different causes. Yes, it is true broody periods vary in length. A normal broody will not sit for longer than the egg incubation period at most. (21 days, generally) Few birds, it seems, really sit out the whole three weeks. As for contagious, not in the right sense of the word. It is a behavior that can trigger other birds into the same behavior, but it is completely dependent on the bird in question, breed, etc. For someone new to chickens, i would probably not try to have her hatch until you know this bird is a good mother.
As for "breaking" a broody, it's more like "encouraging" them to discontinue.
Basically, like i said, try to remove her from the nesting box as much as possible and make sure she gets food and water.
Best of luck!

 

[Hensndoes]

Yeaaaahhhh sooooo.... then my gals aren't normal? Both sat for 7 weeks before I gave them chicks because at the time as a new chicken owner removing them from the nest daily didn't break them. And there was no way to tell if they were going to be good mothers because I raised them and it was their first clutch. I did my research here and let them have a go because that was my last resort in breaking them.

So new to chickens or not. If you can't break them then give them babies. Do your research first and know how and what you're getting into. You don't need 10 years of changing water and filling feeders to be successful. Letting a hen just sit with no plan is to just let her lose reserves that keep her healthy.

 

[Dawnclucks22]

Yeaaaahhhh sooooo.... then my gals aren't normal? Both sat for 7 weeks before I gave them chicks because at the time as a new chicken owner removing them from the nest daily didn't break them. And there was no way to tell if they were going to be good mothers because I raised them and it was their first clutch. I did my research here and let them have a go because that was my last resort in breaking them.

So new to chickens or not. If you can't break them then give them babies. Do your research first and know how and what you're getting into. You don't need 10 years of changing water and filling feeders to be successful. Letting a hen just sit with no plan is to just let her lose reserves that keep her healthy.

I had a bantam that went broody for a LONG time, I don’t think that long though...

 

[Dawnclucks22]

In regard to the thread, though, I do agree she is broody, which is good news if you’re planning for her to foster the babies. Early in the morning or late evening try slipping them one by one under her. If you don’t plan on “breaking” her, then that’s the way to go. It’s nothing you did.

 

[Hensndoes]

i have a buff Orpington who is about a year old. She is not our only chicken, but she was attacked by the others and separated out in her own coop( long story, rookie error). We now got some new chicks that I have built yet another coop for because reintroducing the one chicken wasn’t successful for me. Ever since we goth the chicks old enough to go out into their coop, our buff Orpington went from super sweet to super cranky. She has stayed in her nesting box, and puffs up anytime I get close to her. Anyone have any suggestions? I thought maybe she wanted chicks of her own, so I had read in a book that a hen can foster chicks. So I bought a couple for her and she ignores them. I’m still a rookie, and looking for help.

If the chicks weren't days old at most they may not bond with a surrogate ma. Introducing procedure is key also. Look for chicks that have the tooth on their beak and google as much as possible before trying again. As a general rule do it at night in the dark. Being she's been interrupted once already is either break her or encourage her sitting for a week or so more before trying again.

 

[Hensndoes]

I had a bantam that went broody for a LONG time, I don’t think that long though...

Yea it was nuts. 1st was a speckled Sussex and after 5 weeks of failed breaking we gave her eggs. Meanwhile the cuckoo went broody. Well I didn't have setup for both and neither was breaking. Cuckoo tried to steal the babies but the divider prevented that so she went back to the nest. Sussex walked away from chicks at 3 weeks so we gave the cuckoo the broody house and she raised her own and kept them for 7 weeks. Needless to say I kept the cuckoo and am kinda mad at her for not going broody as I now have 14 chicks in my garage.