Question about broodiness

[cutiepie960]

Going broody or not going broody my hen heather has laid 13 eggs 1 per day for 13 days straight however yesterday ( Saturday) no egg & 2 day (Sunday) an egg but she is sitting on 1 egg for hours on end!!!! There is no way i'm having baby chicks!!! She is feral whom adopted me i took her in only b/c of my lonely roo.... He seems alot happier with her but I AM NOT HAVING ANY CHICKS WHATSOEVER!!!. So my question is could my Heather be laying 1 egg per day to laying 1 egg every other day??? It is terribly hot & humid here in Hawaii & so far i've had to chase her off her nest for 3 days now to collect her 1 egg...Note: Those 13 eggs she's laid took her 1/2 an hr / to 1 hr at the most then usually comes out to forage with my roo Henry but the 3 days Fri, Sat, Sun it took 3 to 4 hrs after she laid just sitting on that 1 egg & 2 day i notice her pecking at her breast feathers or just scratching there... Although i don't see any missing feathers... If i didn't chase her off her nest god knows how long she will sit!!!! I am new with raising a girl hen so i'm really confused!!! Also my roo has tried to mate with her but not sure if he was successful he keeps trying tho Lol! Any response would be greatly appreciated!!! & Thanks so much!!!
Lila Ann

 

[Alaskan]

Just keep removing the eggs... and then there will be no chicks.

It sounds like she might be going broody...but it could also be the weather. too early to tell...

I would pick her up and check for lice and mites...just in case that is the reason she is picking at herself.

 

[Mylied]

They make weird dinosaur noises when they are broody and you mess with them. And they puff up. But she could be getting the idea to go broody. Like Alaskan said, just keep taking away the eggs and kicking her off the nest. Maybe she won't go full broody on you.

 

[JaeG]

If she's still laying then she won't be broody yet. Even if she does go broody you don't have to let her hatch eggs. She could sit on nothing and eventually (sometimes up to 6 weeks) she will realise nothing is going to hatch and get over it. It's just a hormonal change and she won't be upset that nothing happened, she'll just go back to normal after doing a bit of a molt.

Sometimes they do skip a day or two laying and then the next one is a bit of a larger egg so it takes them awhile to push it out into the world, especially if she's an older bird. Just make sure she is given oyster shell grit in a separate bowl so that she can eat as much as she needs for her calcium intake. Sometimes what is in the food isn't enough. That will prevent her becoming egg bound.

 

[cutiepie960]

Thank u everyone fir the reply! Yall r appreciated!.. Ok last week saturday no egg, sunday an egg, today is monday no egg....Maybe the feed i'm giving her is not enough the feed is for roosters b/c he was a lonely roo now that this feral hen have arrived i haven't been feeding her hen food she's just eating the rooster feed that i buy for roosters... It is quite costly & i can hardly afford it now i am being force to feed her oyster shells oh boy she will be costing me alot of $$$ but i will try.... We are in the middle of a VERY HOT summer here in Hawaii, So not sure if thats the reason for every other day egg laying i just don't want her to become egg bound thats my biggest fear!!! Does anyone know what kind of food or fruit is high in calcium???? Until i can muster up some $$$ to get some oyster shells for her... Thanks again for the replys!!
Lila Ann

 

[JaeG]

Maybe some unsweetened yoghurt (nice and cold on a hot day) for calcium. Any dairy product is fine as a treat. You can also dry and crush up egg shells to feed back to her. The heat could be affecting her egg laying and it may make her go into an early molt.

 

[Mylied]

X2 on the crushed eggshells. You don't have to give her oyster shells.

 

[cutiepie960]

Hello
We ate some store bought eggs & i saved the eggshells let the eggshells dry then crushed it up & fed heather but i read that you shouldn't give store bought eggshells to them as they may contain bacteria is this true & my roo henry ate some as well... Will they get sick??? I gave them a handful & threw most of it out as i am scared they will get sick.. Thanks!

 

[JaeG]

You could crush and bake the egg shells to kill off anything. I'd say it would be unlikely they would get sick. Eggs have to be washed to be fit for human consumption so it would be very unlikely they were carrying any diseases.

 

[cutiepie960]

Ok Thank u so much JaeG i will get her crushed oyster shells or do as u said...Thanks alot