Sick? Or broody?

[Sricher91]

First time chicken owner here! Our girls are about 6.5 months old. They have all been laying eggs for maybe a month.

All of them lay in the morning, they are typically all done by 1pm. We found one girl in her nesting box last night when all the others went to roost. We put her in the coop not really thinking much of it. Today around 5pm I went in the back to check on the girls and she was in the box again! So I took her out and put her on the ground and I saw her peck around at some food so I left. My SO went to put them in the coop around 9pm and she was in the box again. She’s not really being snippy or aggressive when we remove her. She just looks really wide and fluffy. But he said she didn’t really want to stand when he put her in the coop. I just went out to check her out and she seems okay? Her crop is really hard but she was eating so I’m going to check it again in the AM.


Does this sound like a broody bird? I’ve had exams the past week so I’ve been slacking on bringing the eggs in right away =\

 

[2 many chickens]

Sounds like a broody to me.
When my birds brood, they look really fluffed out and fat. Like a pancake with eyeballs...
They expand their bodies so wide and look super smashed..

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

She is a broody. I have had MANY broody hens and most of them will not be aggressive to me when I reach under them for eggs or take them off the nest. When you take her off the nest and set her on the ground, she still wants to brood (the picture is of my paint silkie who is broody at the moment. I took her off the nest and put her outside in the grass and she sat there like this for a while. It's normal.) It's not always easy to beak a brood and if she doesn't get off the nest enough then she'll lose weight. I've never had any serious conditions of this, but if you want to fix it try putting her in the roost at night and taking her off the nest in the morning and put her outside. Make sure she eats and drinks plenty. Normally they will make sure themselves, but it's better to be safe rather than sorry. Don't force anything in her, just take her off the nest and put her by the food and water. It may take a while for her brood to break, but it will eventually.

 

[Sricher91]

Thanks! I did put her on the roost with the others when I got home. How long will it take to get her back to normal? We have 4 nesting boxes and 8 laying hens. But all the birds only use 1 (sometimes 2) boxes. With her hogging it all day I know got 4 eggs! I typically get 7-8 a day.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

It all depends on your hen, really. My silkie hen will sometimes be broody for three weeks, while my Cochin can be broken in a day or two.

 

[AGirlAndHerChickens03]

You can look up some other ways to break a broody hen, but from what I've read, they aren't very reliable. Sometimes they just want to stop on their own time.

 

[Lady of McCamley]

I agree, your hen sounds broody.

As to how long? What breed is she?

The larger breeds tend to break sooner, however, I've had some of my Marans mixes brood for weeks. (I hatched a lot of chicks this summer).

If you are really bothered by it, and she shows no signs of letting up after 4 weeks, even with taking her off the nest with food and treats, then you can place them in a cage that has plenty of air flow underneath.

But the weather is changing and getting cooler. Most hens break with the colder weather.

LofMc

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you're not planning to hatch, break her immediately. A wire dog crate (or I use a small dog exercise pen) will do fine, leave her in there with food and water and when she stops puffing up and stops showing anxiety trying to get back to the nest, she should be good to go. Takes about 3 days on average for most birds. No reason to wait several weeks and have her lose body condition for nothing.

 

[pennyJo1960]

@rosemarythyme is very correct please follow her advice

 

[aart]

I break them right away, if I don't want them to hatch some chicks.

My experience 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 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.