Possibly Sick Hen?

[Dbest815]

I’ve kept some backyard chickens before but haven’t experienced this so I’m hoping for some insight from this community!

I have just 2 black sex link hens, both of which are a few months under 1 year old. MJ is the larger of the 2, and she has been laying for around 2 months. RPO is the smaller of the 2 and she hasn’t started laying yet, as far as I know, but could start any day now.

They have both taken to fully ignoring their coop and nest boxes and I have seen MJ in a planter by my porch laying an egg each morning. The rest of the day, they are out and about just foraging and staying cool under the house in the Louisiana heat. Then at dusk, they’ve been roosting together on a high point on my porch.

3 nights ago, I saw RPO roosting alone for the first time, so I checked the planter where MJ has been laying eggs and sure enough she was there and on top of 2 eggs so I figured she was broody. She fluffed up, tried to peck me once, and got very talkative when I picked her up and put her on the roosting spot but she stayed there for the night. The next night, the same thing happened where MJ was on the nest box at night. I picked her up and she responded once again by fluffing up and yelling but this time there were no eggs beneath her. I put her up on the roost again and started to get worried. Last night, SAME thing again— this time RPO was closer to the planter while still on the porch, looking into the planter and looking at me. I picked up MJ in the planter again, collected 1 egg from under her, and then massaged her belly to see if I could feel any egg blockage, and even got a glove with Vaseline to check her cloaca for any eggs. I felt nothing!! After I invaded her space like that, I gave her lots of chicken treats which she very happily and readily ate…

Unsure what’s going on here!! She’s definitely more lethargic than normal, spending much more time in her makeshift nesting box-planter, and gets fluffy and angry when I touch her or pick her up, and I saw some watery poo on her tail yesterday. But she’s eating fine, and I’m pretty dang sure from my invasive prodding that there’s no eggs stuck in her, plus I collected an egg from her yesterday. Now it could be that RPO has JUST laying and then MJ is sitting on it but I’m not sure.

I would love any and all suggestions!! Thank you in advance for your help!!

 

[coach723]

It sounds very much like she's gone broody. If they aren't going to sit and hatch, which can be hard on them, then it's best to break them. Not as bad as it sounds. You get a wire crate, set it up on blocks or boards so air circulates all around, no bedding or nesting material at all, just the wire bottom. Her own food and water. Keep the crate in the run, coop, or other area secure from predators. She stays there until she's no longer broody. Can take one day, or up to a week if they are really stubborn. When she doesn't fluff up, growl, or shriek at you like a teradactyl, you let her out. If she goes right back to sitting on the nest it's too soon, back in the crate for longer. If she goes back to normal behavior, she's done. Some birds may never go broody, some may go broody multiple times a year, some only occasionally. Examples of broody breakers below: