Skinny broody girl. Should I worry? What to do?

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Ok, so my Americana is stillllllllllllll broody. I've been letting her do her thing since the new year (as I taked about in my past post). I boot her off the nest two times a day. She usually isn't sitting on anything, but still gets all fluffed and sings at me. She comes running out on her own for treats in the am with the others, but goes right back on the nest. I didn't want to cage her but she is getting lighter when I pick her up. I can feel her breast bone and there isn't much meat on either side. At what point do I worry. Should I supplement her? Do they starve themselves over this?

 

[nzpouter]

come again..? Why don't you take her off the broodie if you're not setting any eggs on her? Yes they can loose a lot of weight and yes there are other things that can go wrong when sitting in the nest box for extended period of time.

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Well, I'm new to this. I got suggestions to seperate her and put her in a wire bottom cage to break it. Others said she will come to her senses eventually. I'm not set up to easily seperate her and I didn't mind she stopped laying. I have eight other layers all are under a year old. I'm not interested in chicks, just eggs. Any suggestions?

 

[austinhart123]

the wire cage method is your best bet... it works and some never come to their senses

 

[nzpouter]

get her out of it, use a cat carry cage, hang it on the wall for 4-5 days, under shelter with food and water.

Chicken have 2 heat pad on either side of the keel that filled with blood when they go broodie... the idea is to lower the temperature on those, you can wipe those area with water in the morning as well to speed things up.

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Ok, so tell me again how does the cage work? Should the cage be in the coop with the others? For how long? It's still gets down to freezing in this area at night, will she get too cold with out bedding? Should I give her a board to perch on?

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Sorry, just saw that last post. 4-5 days, ok. Is hanging on the wall for a reason other than air underneath. What about the chilly nights?

 

[nzpouter]

hang it in a place under shelter (rain, sun, chills), you can hang it in the coop as long as she's out of direct sunlight.

 

[Jena]

Keep an eye on her.

I had one doing the same.

She is off the nest now, but it seems she is bottom of the pecking order, and she is being picked on so I have to watch she is eating.

She is fine, but it could just be the flock mentality.

At least she is roosting now with the others.

Jena.

 

[Mr. Frizzles Hen House]

Half of my coop is their space, the other half is storage / access to the nest boxes which are waist high. I isolated an injured hen in that area in the past. Do you think I can put her in there with no bedding and have the same effect as the wire cage? She can roost on a 4-5" area which is about half the top of the net boxes. Chicken wire comes down the middle and there's a full man/ chicken wire door so she can see the others. Will it work if she's still sitting in wood ?