Possible eggbound or broody

[annierose]

Hi all!

I've got a sussex coronation hen and I think she may have gone broody or worse be egg bound.
Today she's been her her nesting box for most of the day, got the growls, one peck and fluffed up.
I've removed her from the nesting box and blocked it off, she keeps returning which is why i think she's broody.

Now she is a young hen, i've got some concern that she keeps fluffing herself outside the coop whilst standing, lots of grooming.
anti- Mite powder was yesterday.

Here's my other concern, she top of the pecking order but she received quite a deep peck to her comb. Probably about 3-4 days old now, the back tips of the comb aren't as bright red.
I believe it was from one of the chickens laying a shell-less egg in the nesting box and all trying to get to it.
I need help to stop the chickens roosting in their nesting box too

 

[The Happster]

Likely a peck wound. Make sure no one is pecking at it - should heal up pretty quick.
Block the nesting box at night - simply putting a box or something in there would work.

That's broody behaviour, alright. Blocking access to the box will also mean the other birds can't lay - please make sure they have somewhere to go.

 

[aart]

Spot looks like fowl pox to me.
Virus carried by mosquitoes, should clear up in a few weeks, don't mess with it or it could spread.

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.

 

[annierose]

So it's definitely broody behaviour as she goes straight back to sit in her nesting box and it's been going for about 5 days now.

I've tried the bucket of water but she's stayed in for 30 seconds but she does stay out for 1-2 hour afterwards. Eats, drinks, runs around the garden, dust bath etc.

So i've got a run attached to the hen house, so i'm leaving her in there for the day. the other chickens will just have to use the human door to get into the hen house!

 

[bhawk-23]

I noticed our buff orpington sitting in the nest box longer than usual yesterday but she is young enough that most research said she shouldn't be broody yet. She came out in the early afternoon and stayed out foraging with the rest until time to roost so we figured it was a fluke. But when the others jumped on the roosts she went back to her box. She was not in it at 6:30 am but back in at 7:30 am. She did not run out with the rest like normal at 8 am and is still in the box now.
She is 26-27 weeks and has been laying for 3-4 weeks (best guess we have). She growls at us looking in on her but calms when we talk. We have not reached in as of yet. I am concerned it could be something healthwise since she is so young and early in her laying. We much appreciate any thoughts someone can share.
Thank you!

 

[black_cat]

I noticed our buff orpington sitting in the nest box longer than usual yesterday but she is young enough that most research said she shouldn't be broody yet. She came out in the early afternoon and stayed out foraging with the rest until time to roost so we figured it was a fluke. But when the others jumped on the roosts she went back to her box. She was not in it at 6:30 am but back in at 7:30 am. She did not run out with the rest like normal at 8 am and is still in the box now.
She is 26-27 weeks and has been laying for 3-4 weeks (best guess we have). She growls at us looking in on her but calms when we talk. We have not reached in as of yet. I am concerned it could be something healthwise since she is so young and early in her laying. We much appreciate any thoughts someone can share.
Thank you!

The ultimate question: If you take her out of the box, does she turn into a fluffy growling pancake?

 

[bhawk-23]

The ultimate question: If you take her out of the box, does she turn into a fluffy growling pancake?

She was NOT happy! Thank goodness I thought to put gloves on before reaching in. Lol
Thank you for that suggestion. If I have questions about this should I move over to the hatching eggs and not clutter up this thread?

 

[black_cat]

She was NOT happy! Thank goodness I thought to put gloves on before reaching in. Lol
Thank you for that suggestion. If I have questions about this should I move over to the hatching eggs and not clutter up this thread?

Depends. You could probably keep it on here if you have questions about how to set up a broody in a safe hatching space and how to handle her, then on hatching eggs you could ask about giving her eggs, checking on them during incubation, and what to do after they hatch etc.

 

[bhawk-23]

The ultimate question: If you take her out of the box, does she turn into a fluffy growling pancake?

She was NOT happy! Thank goodness I thought to put gloves on before reaching in. Lol
Thank you for that suggestion. If I have questions about this should I move over to the hatching eggs and not clutter up this thread?

 

[bhawk-23]

Sorry! Don't know how that posted twice
My questions are:

If we allow her to hatch an egg or two will this encourage her broodiness for years to come? This is not something we are wanting.

Do we have to separate her and her chick(we would only allow one fertilized egg) for safety reasons? I don't believe we currently have a good set up for separating her from the rest and are not interested in building a second coop right now.

And lastly, is it too late in the year for her to safely raise a chick? We are in east central Illinois.

Thank you,
Cara