I have 11 hens all of whom are just turning one year old now. 4 Easter eggers, 3 speckled Sussex, 2 barred rocks, and 2 black australorps. They've all been laying for at least 6 months now and have become very regular. None of them are molting yet, and they all are very healthy. They have plenty of room in the coop and over 500 square feet in their run. I make sure that they never run out of layer feed, and they always have access to plenty of fresh cool water, grit, and oyster shell in the coop. We have three nesting boxes, though they all prefer the same one which I've heard is very common.
None of these breeds are supposed to be particularly broody. But over the course of the last couple months all 3 of the speckled Sussex, and one of the barred rocks has exhibited what I believe is broody behavior. They have all done it one at a time, not at the same time. The "broody" hen will sit and everybody's favorite box during the day, and during the night. If I try to move her to get to the eggs, she will protest mildly or significantly depending on the individual hen's demeanor. I remove the eggs that get laid regularly, though sometimes the broody hen won't even let the others in the box to lay. However when I open the coop in the morning even the broody hen comes out with everybody else. And if I put her on the roost, I don't find her sitting in the nesting boxes later that night. For each of the hens I have set up a broody breaking area in our run. It is a small dog crate with the solid bottom tray removed. I set it on top of a pallet and make sure that the hen has lots of access to food and water. The suspected broody hen goes in the crate in the morning and then I take her out and put her on the roost at night. So far, 2 days of this has worked just fine and all the hens have gone back to their normal behavior.
My question, is this real broodiness? Or something else? I thought broody hens would not get up off their nest even in the mornings when the coop is opened. And I've had four hens in one year go broody from breeds that are never supposed to. Is there something about my setup, or that I'm doing that is causing this behavior?
None of these breeds are supposed to be particularly broody. But over the course of the last couple months all 3 of the speckled Sussex, and one of the barred rocks has exhibited what I believe is broody behavior. They have all done it one at a time, not at the same time. The "broody" hen will sit and everybody's favorite box during the day, and during the night. If I try to move her to get to the eggs, she will protest mildly or significantly depending on the individual hen's demeanor. I remove the eggs that get laid regularly, though sometimes the broody hen won't even let the others in the box to lay. However when I open the coop in the morning even the broody hen comes out with everybody else. And if I put her on the roost, I don't find her sitting in the nesting boxes later that night. For each of the hens I have set up a broody breaking area in our run. It is a small dog crate with the solid bottom tray removed. I set it on top of a pallet and make sure that the hen has lots of access to food and water. The suspected broody hen goes in the crate in the morning and then I take her out and put her on the roost at night. So far, 2 days of this has worked just fine and all the hens have gone back to their normal behavior.
My question, is this real broodiness? Or something else? I thought broody hens would not get up off their nest even in the mornings when the coop is opened. And I've had four hens in one year go broody from breeds that are never supposed to. Is there something about my setup, or that I'm doing that is causing this behavior?
