Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Poultry and Pets => The Hen House => Topic started by: Sinmara on July 09, 2021, 17:03
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Hello hello,
I have an ISA Brown hen, she is about 4 1/2 years old, the oldest of my flock of 11 hens (and one rooster) and also The Boss of the flock. She's always been very healthy (apart from a very soft egg shell that got stuck in her vent many years ago, we managed to get it out). She had a few lice last month, but we treated this and they're gone now. She's never been broody and is usually the first one if there's food. We call her Hendini as she's an escape artist too.
The last 2 days she is constantly talking and fluffing her feathers. She's not broody because she is walking around like normal on our croft. She still lays an egg occasionally.
I checked her over very thoroughly yesterday and today and I could not find anything wrong with her, she's a picture of health!
Why on earth is she talking all day and fluffing her feathers?!
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Is there any predators nearby,either on the ground or the air?
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Is there any predators nearby,either on the ground or the air?
not really, we have the odd buzzard, but that's about it.
Shortly after I posted this she then proceeded to sit on a clutch of eggs, but she kept wandering off for longer than 10 minutes, so we took the eggs away and shut the outside coop (they've got a big barn with plenty of nesting spaces, the coop is just our old coop that we had before we moved to our Croft 2 months ago).
So she's definitely broody... she's now - a few days later - still vocal and fluffing herself up, but she doesn't sit in a nesting box anymore. Hopefully she'll stop soon....
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Higher light levels than usual here this year because its been so dry & sunny! :D (and long may that continue, we've got hay cut, just off to turn it in a minute). One of our ISAs has been broody for ages. She sits right in the middle of the nest box attacking all-comers, so they're all going off laying in odd places round the croft instead. ::). Usually nights drawing in after the longest day, would have put a stop to it by now but its an unusual year. Don't believe any old wives tales about methods to cure her - just make sure she keeps eating and drinking & wait.
Windy.
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Glad it is just broodiness
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Hens tend to be more vocal on windy days , i think it ruffles their feathers a tad .