Picked on wanna be

[mrs mossi]

One of my Buff Orpingtons is being picked on by several of her sisters. She went broody a couple of weeks ago and I've struggled to break her of it. She spends most of her time in an empty nesting box. Once in a while she'll move to a box with the others eggs. I bring her out every morning to have a little scratch with the others and pull her out again and take her out of the coop for late afternoon/evening free range time in the yard. She heads right back to the box after a little while. She has sustained no injuries, other than being a bit skiddish, from the pecking. I'm not sure how to handle the situation. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

 

[cavemanrich]

When some of my hens go broody, I just let them be. I do take them out to get food at the feeder and they go back shortly. This is make believe motherhood for them since there is no rooster. I keep removing the eggs. After a while they give up and go back to normal. Why would I want to change their natural desires?????? NOT ME.
OH AND

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

One of my Buff Orpingtons is being picked on by several of her sisters. She went broody a couple of weeks ago and I've struggled to break her of it. She spends most of her time in an empty nesting box. Once in a while she'll move to a box with the others eggs. I bring her out every morning to have a little scratch with the others and pull her out again and take her out of the coop for late afternoon/evening free range time in the yard. She heads right back to the box after a little while. She has sustained no injuries, other than being a bit skiddish, from the pecking. I'm not sure how to handle the situation. Any guidance would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Welcome to BYC.

Are you certain the bird is truly broody and not just choosing to use the nest boxes as an escape from the bullying? The approach to correct the situation will depend heavily on which one of these is the case for your bird. Is she sleeping in the nest box? What is her overall body language in the nest box and when you go to pick her up? When you set her on the ground outside of the nest box, what does she do? These will factor into determining if this is a broody (at which point we can advise you on the methods of breaking a broody hen) or if her behavior is due to being bullied (at which point we can address the bullying in your flock).
How many birds, total, do you have and what breed(s) are present? How much space is available to them? How old are the birds and how long has this group been together? When did the picking begin?