What the heck is going on here?

[theireton]

Ok, so I have this hen who I've noticed just laying a lay box all day. Finally today I picked her up to give her a look over and noticed all of the feathers on her belly are completely gone!

I have no idea what would cause this, or what to do to remedy the problem. Please help!

 

[Sjisty]

Did she growl at you when you picked her up? She is probably broody. Hens will pluck a "broody patch" on their bellies to get better contact with the eggs to help keep them the correct temperature and humidity for developing and hatching. They will also stay on the nest, only coming off once a day. Do you have access to fertile eggs to put under her?

 

[theireton]

We have no roosters, so no access to fertile eggs. She is the only hen like this, out of the 9 that we have.

 

[theireton]

So is that the only assumption out there? Has anyone seen this before?

 

[Wyleiria]

I had a black astralorp who did that when she went broody.

 

[vchicks]

My understanding is that no rooster is needed for a hen to go broody...

 

[junebuggena]

Broody hen.

 

[theireton]

Is there anything I need to do about it? Or just let her do her thing?

 

[junebuggena]

Well you can try to put her in a crate for a couple days to see if that works. But if she goes straight back to brooding, I doubt that there is anything that will stop her. She'll snap out of it in a couple weeks.

 

[theireton]

Ok, thanks for the advice!