Broody?

Hello,

One of new girls has just starting laying! Yippee. I have just been out to check up and take out there breakfast. She is sitting in the rabbit hutch on three eggs. The are all hers and the other 3 girls have laid in the coup! She is grumpy too! We do not have a cockerel!

Suggestions please!

Sara

  I sypathise with you. My 'star layer' Annabelle who is a 22 week old Black Rock Hen started this 'Broody Malarchy' over a week ago and I am now getting thoroughly P*ssed off with her. In the morning she refuses to come out of the Coop and insists on lying in one of my two Nestboxes and making strange noises. I have to physically remove her and shove her in the Run so at least she gets some food and water. She only stays in the run for a short time then returns. She is laying and I remove the eggs as soon as I can. This behaviour is upsetting my other two Black Rocks who now think that they don't need to produce any eggs. On the odd occasion that they have actually managed to get in to lay, Annabelle has damaged their eggs by knocking them out of the Nesting box into the droppings tray beneath. I have no solutions but having read other postings it would appear I may have to put up with it for upto a further two weeks.

Yep my hybrid is at it too and has been for nearly 3 weeks.

For the last 4 days my routine has been this - let them out into the run first thing and remove Gladys from the nest box where she will have moved and been sitting over night and dump her in the run, leave the coop open until the two other hens have laid, remove the eggs from underneath Gladys where she have moved them quick as a flash, remove Gladys from the nest box again and shut the coop door so she can't get back in, watch her behave almost like a normal chicken all day, that is until early evening when I block up the nest box and open the coop door so they can go inside and roost when they want and she runs straight in and settles down next to the partition I have set up, after dark I put her on the perch, before bed I check she's still on the perch and remove the partition from the nest box just in case one of the laying girls has the urge to pass an early morning egg. Next morning Gladys will be back in the next box sitting on nothing and the whole thing starts again...

She is noticably more grumpy when out during the day and I have seen her pecking the other girls which she never did before. She also screeches and tries to peck me when I take her from the nextbox. I have tried putting an ice pack (wrapped in a towel but still cold) underneath her and she just sat on it, I have tried a cold bath...which was 'interesting' but hasn't changed anything.

It is really frustrating - want her to start behaving normally and start laying again and can now understand why people 'give in' and get eggs for their broodies to sit on as she is totally not 'herself'. 

Oh yes, I'm sure that's also the case, not saying there's anything against allowing your broody hen to hatch eggs if you have the space and can cope with the results. Unfortunately, at the moment, I don't have the space and I'm not sure I could cull the boys.

What I'm saying I can see why people in the same position as me (who shouldn't really be doing it) do get their broodies fertile eggs, despite this, cause they just want their hens to be happy/normal again!

It all depends on if you want chicks?? I had a very broody speckledy (Patricia) last summer (first for us and her!!) we put 6 fertile eggs from a friend and bingo they ALL hatched 3 weeks later!

She has since gone broody back in June and I kept fetching her off the nest and closing it(much to her disgust) but after seversal days she got the message and just sulked. We had no eggs off her for about 3 weeks too.  She is fine and dandy now however I am battling a huge red mite investation 

Good luck  broodyhen x