Strange behavior from 1 of our 3 hens

[pmhvista]

One of our hens (they are all about 9 months old) is acting strangely. She is wanting to hunker down in the coop, even while the other two are free ranging the yard. She is obsessing over her laid eggs and warming them as if they were fertilized. We have no roosters. She gets very defensive and puffs her feathers when I try to move her. I'm trying to break her out of it by removing the eggs, picking her up and out of the coop to get her out and about. Any advice or explanation of what might be causing this behavior?

 

[sourland]

It sounds as if she may be going broody.

 

[kcrandall]

One of our hens (they are all about 9 months old) is acting strangely. She is wanting to hunker down in the coop, even while the other two are free ranging the yard. She is obsessing over her laid eggs and warming them as if they were fertilized. We have no roosters. She gets very defensive and puffs her feathers when I try to move her. I'm trying to break her out of it by removing the eggs, picking her up and out of the coop to get her out and about. Any advice or explanation of what might be causing this behavior?

She's broody. Try putting her in a small cage with food and water for 2 or 3 days. That usually breaks the broody behavior. Do not put any thing in the cage that she can use as nest material. I had a Marans hen that I could not break - she sat on an empty make shift nest for almost 30 days no matter how many times I took her off. Now that is a dedicated hen.

However, if you want more chickens find a breeder nearby that sells hatching eggs and hatch some baby chickens.

Good Luck with your broody,
Keith

 

[chickens really]

One of our hens (they are all about 9 months old) is acting strangely. She is wanting to hunker down in the coop, even while the other two are free ranging the yard. She is obsessing over her laid eggs and warming them as if they were fertilized. We have no roosters. She gets very defensive and puffs her feathers when I try to move her. I'm trying to break her out of it by removing the eggs, picking her up and out of the coop to get her out and about. Any advice or explanation of what might be causing this behavior?

To break her Brooding, place her in a wire crate and place it on bricks with Chicken wire on the bottom....The belly of a Broody needs to cool in order to break that cycle......Usually takes a few days if caught early but can take longer if she was left to brood for a week or so?.......Try that....


Cheers!