why does my broody hen act so sporadic??

[Sobek]

She's acting like a mad chicken. She's been losing weight so I force her to socialize or at least be around the other chickens she ends up doing her own thing. For at least 20 minutes a day and I give her food and water a few times. But she acts so crazy. Randomly she's eating and then when nothing is around she puffs up at charges in one direction like a murder chicken lol
It's kind of funny but I was wondering why she acted like this? She just randomly charges in all different directions. Her eggs are somewhere else too. A few minutes ago she started making noise and charging towards me and the other chickens and violently started digging up the dirt xD

 

[FarmerGirl101]

Did anything happen to her in the sense of brain damage?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

IMHO, your first problem is disturbing your broody hen. She has a job to do and you are interrupting the process. A setting hen doesn't socialize with the flock - ever. Her job is incubation, turning of eggs and protecting the nest. That makes them cranky. Depending on ambient temperature, she may get off the nest to defecate, eat, drink, stretch and perhaps dust bathe. She may get off the nest for 15-20 minutes if it is cold out or more than that, the eggs may chill, if it is hot she may get off for an hour or two. She may not even get off daily.
She is in a trance trying to bring new chickens into the world and you are trying to get her to work on your schedule with behavior you want to see. That is behavior a broody hen will never exhibit. She doesn't want to do what you want her to do. She charges because she is being defensive, even if her eggs are elsewhere.
Initially, she'll turn eggs many times a day and as the embryos mature, that will become less frequent.
The less you pay attention to her, the more successful she will be.

 

[aart]

She's been losing weight so I force her to socialize or at least be around the other chickens she ends up doing her own thing.

Is she incubating eggs?

 

[Ridgerunner]

Before a hen even starts laying she packs on some excess fat. This fat is what she mostly lives on if she goes broody. Yes, a broody hen will lose weight, but that is excess fat meant for that purpose. It does not mean she is sick or having problems, it means she is normal. Using that excess fat means she can stay on the nest taking care of the eggs instead of spending a lot of time eating and drinking.

Broodies will sometimes leave the nest to eat, drink, poop, and maybe take a dust bath. Mine normally do once or twice a day, depending in weather, like Canoe said. Often they are in a hurry, but I had one in hot weather that would come off the nest twice a day for more than an hour at a time. She sometimes hung with the regular flock for a bit. They are all different.

I don't know what you are doing with that broody but the way I look at it the less I interfere the less damage I do. Some people interfere a lot and often do well.

 

[Kalimak]

IMHO, your first problem is disturbing your broody hen. She has a job to do and you are interrupting the process. A setting hen doesn't socialize with the flock - ever. Her job is incubation, turning of eggs and protecting the nest. That makes them cranky. Depending on ambient temperature, she may get off the nest to defecate, eat, drink, stretch and perhaps dust bathe. She may get off the nest for 15-20 minutes if it is cold out or more than that, the eggs may chill, if it is hot she may get off for an hour or two. She may not even get off daily.
She is in a trance trying to bring new chickens into the world and you are trying to get her to work on your schedule with behavior you want to see. That is behavior a broody hen will never exhibit. She doesn't want to do what you want her to do. She charges because she is being defensive, even if her eggs are elsewhere.
Initially, she'll turn eggs many times a day and as the embryos mature, that will become less frequent.
The less you pay attention to her, the more successful she will be.

Very well put. +1

 

[EggSighted4Life]

She is just acting like a broody.

Even though you may not see when she leaves the nest to eat and drink doesn't mean she isn't... in my experience. Chances are you just ain't seeing it.. as mentioned, my broody hens judge temps and such before they decide what time of day to leave the nest.

It usually takes several weeks or shortly after the hen boots the chicks before she returns to normal behavior... as noted all are individual...