Sick or broody?

[Faife6]

Something strange is going on with one of my wyandottes. This morning I noticed her missing from the run and found her inside the roosting area still roosting at 10 a.m. I have been trying to encourage broodiness in a couple of my hens by leaving eggs in the nesting boxes but I've never seen this kind of behavior before. She was not in the nesting box sitting on a clutch of eggs but rather in the coop still roosting and staring into space. When I tried to pet her she pecked at me which is very unlike her. I wasn't really sure what to do so I put her in a dog crate in the house with straw and a nesting box like other posts suggested. I even put eggs in the box to encourage her to sit, but every time I check on her she is sitting off the nest or just standing really still at a random spot staring off into space. Her comb is brightly colored and I didn't feel any abnormalities. She does not growl or fluff up her feathers when I check on her but she does peck at me. Has anyone experienced this before? And if so what should I do? I'm starting to get pretty worried.

 

[wyandottegirl]

How old is she? Sometimes when chickens get older they don't come out of the coup until after the others.

 

[Faife6]

She's almost two. I have 3 others that are her same age. Just checked on her twice in the last hour. One time she was on the nest the other she was standing over it absolutely frozen. I know this isn't typical broody behavior right?

 

[critterkeeper25]

We had a hen go broody recently. We wanted to break the behavior. No roosters, so she was just wasting her time and getting skinny for nothing. She was on the nest constantly, and when you went to get the eggs out from under her or to move her she would flare out her feathers and growl and peck at you. We put her in broody jail to break her of the broodiness. By day 2 she was sitting on the roost at night and out during the day scratching with the rest. Though she still makes that weird growl/cluck sound while she's running around. It doesn't sound at all like what our hen did. Could it be possible that she may have an egg wedged in there somewhere? Maybe it causes her discomfort to move around too much.
We're new to chickens (it's been only a year since we got our chicks) so I don't know everything that a lot of people around here know. I'm sure someone will post a reply soon with some good advice for you. Good Luck!

 

[Faife6]

Thanks Critter! I still have a lot to learn too. I felt around her vent and belly, but I didn't feel anything hard or egg shaped. Maybe this is some pre-broodiness thing that I missed last time? I've been so lucky to never have had a sick chicken before. It's so frustrating!

I did find a little poo around her vent area which I cleaned off, but I think that's pretty normal. I guess the best thing to do is to sit and wait. I just feel like there's something I should be doing to help her. I wonder if I should be pushing fluids. I've only seen her drink once today...Hopefully someone with more knowledge then me can help point me in the right direction.

 

[wyandottegirl]

We had a hen go broody recently. We wanted to break the behavior. No roosters, so she was just wasting her time and getting skinny for nothing. She was on the nest constantly, and when you went to get the eggs out from under her or to move her she would flare out her feathers and growl and peck at you. We put her in broody jail to break her of the broodiness. By day 2 she was sitting on the roost at night and out during the day scratching with the rest. Though she still makes that weird growl/cluck sound while she's running around. It doesn't sound at all like what our hen did. Could it be possible that she may have an egg wedged in there somewhere? Maybe it causes her discomfort to move around too much.
We're new to chickens (it's been only a year since we got our chicks) so I don't know everything that a lot of people around here know. I'm sure someone will post a reply soon with some good advice for you. Good Luck!

I had a hen which decided to go broody. We have no roosters so she was really just wasting her time. I would keep checking on her and make sure she is eating and drinking. Wyandottes do go broody so I would keep watching her behavior. Good luck.