She just sits there most of the day

dfarrarjr

Chirping
7 Years
Feb 13, 2012
5
0
60
For whatever reason my Bantam hen all of a sudden just sits here wjile the other 2 are more active. In the AM she gets up and eats but just heads back. Kind of worried cuz she was very active until a week or so ago. Thoughts? Thanks.
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Welcome to BYC!

She might be broody...she looks pretty nestled in and flattened out like a broody would.
Is she growling, puffing up, biting if you try to touch her?

Is that bin full if shavings where they usually lay?

Where do they normally roost(sleep)....is she going there with the others at night or staying on her 'nest' shown in the pic??

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.
Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?
Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.
Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?
If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.
It a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(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.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.
 
I only have 3 hens. Bantams. This is where she lays eggs. At night she does not move. Only time she gets up is in the morning when the coop door is open then she eats and drinks and goes back in. Even when i let them out to range she goes out with the others then back in to the same spot. Kinda worried but she lets me pick her up and touch her. She makes noises but doesnt bite. This is our 1st winter/year with chickens. Newbie. Thx
 
She might be going broody... or she might be sick. However, I don't think so, as when mine get sick, I have never found them in the nest, always on the floor or in a corner. Sometimes it takes a while for them to do "the puff up, let me take your arm off if you get close. " Mode.

Personally, I pray for a broody hen, nothing is as much fun as a hen with chicks.

MRs K
 

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