Weird Behavior

[GypsyChick89]

We have a hen that has been sitting in the same nest for at lest a week know... shes always in it. I have pulled her out of it a few times and she makes funny noises at us when we open the door or act like we are going to pet her. I have thought maybe she is broody but I have not pulled any eggs from the nest in the last few days. Today I had the BF pull her from the nest and there were no eggs and when he put her on the ground the other chickens attacked her, When i got home from work I pulled her from the nest again and there were no eggs and she went to go in to the other half of the coop and one of the SLW's jumped on her and pecked her and she came running back on the the nest house took the biggest poo I have ever seen a chicken poo before and then jumped back up and in to another nest. Could she be egg bound? Is she sick? It has been below zero the last week or so... is she just cold?

 

[azelgin]

She's broody.

 

[GypsyChick89]

Even though she isn't even laying on any eggs?

 

[GypsyChick89]

What about the other chickens behavior towards her? Is it because she hasn't been with the flock?
Can you fix a broody hen?

 

[azelgin]

Even though she isn't even laying on any eggs?

Yea, a determined broody hen will try and hatch air.

 

[mortie]

x2 broody for sure. They don't care if there are any eggs.

 

[GypsyChick89]

Should I just keep pulling her from the nest? She is definitely trying to hatch air..

 

[azelgin]

What about the other chickens behavior towards her? Is it because she hasn't been with the flock?
Can you fix a broody hen?

When I toss a broody off her nest, the other hens sometimes pick on her until she blends in with the flock again. When she gets off the nest with new chicks, its a different story. New mothers are hell on wheels and will take on all comers.
Can you fix a broody hen? I put the ones I don't want to brood in a coop without access to her preferred nest. Usually works for me. The only SURE way, is to let her hatch out chicks, or, some have success giving them a new chick to mother.
I've heard of others dunking them in cold water, to lower their body temperature and stop the cycle. All that's done for me is make the chicken wet.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Should I just keep pulling her from the nest? She is definitely trying to hatch air..

I would not - brooding is very taxing on a hen and if it is for nothing *I* find it far better to just get on with breaking her broodiness ( you can find several threads on it here with different methods, but I prefer the old fashioned "broody buster" method of an elevated cage). Simply taking her off the nest is not going to break her and, as you have seen, makes her a target of the others in the flock. A broody hen is ill-equipped to defend herself when taken off the nest like that as they simply hunker down where they land and that makes an irresistibly easy target.

 

[azelgin]

Simply taking her off the nest is not going to break her and, as you have seen, makes her a target of the others in the flock. A broody hen is ill-equipped to defend herself when taken off the nest like that as they simply hunker down where they land and that makes an irresistibly easy target.

I agree. A broody hen gets back to the nest faster than a boomerang, too.