I have a bantam cochin pullet, 8 months old, that has been sitting on an empty nest for almost 6 weeks now. I have locked her out of the pen for hours, I put her in a different pen and I am now taking her off the nest every time I go out to the barn. She is getting very thin. Yesterday when I took her off the nest she went kinda spazzy. Actually I thought she was having a siezure. When I picked her up she had her eyes closed and her neck went limp. I really thought I was going to loose her. I put her back on the nest and she seemed ok. I went back out a little bit later and took her off the nest again. This time what I wittnessed was, the rooster approached her and she went into this spazz mode. The rooster watched for about 30 seconds and then left. The hen stopped spazzing and got up and went over to eat and drink. The rooster again approached her and she spazzed again. When the rooster left she got up and went to the empty nest again. Is this normal chicken behavior? I have never seen it before. I have seen broodies tell the roo that they want nothing to do with them but this seems extreme. Another thing, when are theses hens going to realize it is too cold to be hatching eggs outside? I have 4 right now that so desperately want to hatch eggs. I do not want to have chicks in the house all winter! They have already hatched out 21 chicks in the last 2 months. I started taking the eggs and leaving them on empty nests but they just won't give up. Anyway, has anyone ever seen a broody go to such extremes to ward off the affections of the roo?
Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Gayle
Thanks for any thoughts on this.
Gayle
