[viettaclark]

My Speckledy is 36 weeks and has only been laying for a few weeks, first softies now only the occasional hard egg.
She started becoming broody over a week ago with all the classic signs,(I read the stickies....very useful, ta!)and I have been "chucking" her out of the nest box into the garden through the day when I collect the other girls' eggs that she sits on. She must move to let them lay because they all like laying in the same end of the box. Then she broods their eggs! She hasn't eaten much for days but has the odd peck and scratch and I've noticed she is "nesting" on the ground as well which should cool her chest?.
Problem is mainly the other girls. They attack her when she tries to join them which drives her back to the nest box!!
Will her hormones really play up for 21 days?  I think this is why they go for her.....she's "different".
I can see her getting ill if it's that long.

[chickenlicken]

Hi there, one of our ladies is very prone to going broody and the best way i find to snap her out of it is to cage her, I use a dog cage.  I pop her in there with some bricks under the cage so she is just sitting on the metal giving good airflow round her behind to cool her down and not enabling her to get comfy and 'brood'.  I only give her corn and water and she usually has to sit it out 3-4 days.  I put her outside when it is dry and fine and cover her a bit for some shade/rain protection.
I know there are other methods such as bathing etc but this it was I have found works best and keep the nest boxes free for the others.
Good Luck!!

[Flossiej]

Hi chickenlicken
I have one broody at the moment and she broods all the other four girls eggs and I thought that she was moving to let them lay until I caught her just after one of our girls came out the nesting box the other morning. The other hens lay in the nesting box next to our broody and she waits for them to lay and leave when she then very carefully rolls the egg around the edge of the box and tucks it under herself. Occasionally she gets it wrong and we find an egg rolled into the coop instead.

 I was amazed how resourceful she was. She has it down to a fine art now and has been broody for five weeks. We wait until all the others have laid each day and then lift her from the box, collect the eggs and chuck her out with the coop door firmly closed until about seven in the evening. She wasn't too pleased for the first day or two but accepts it now. Unfortunately she still rushes straight back to the box the moment the coop door opens.

We had one of the other girls who was broody before this one, in fact had the two of them broody
 at one stage and she snapped out of it eventually she hope Penny gets the message soon. I am sure the high winds will cool her down pretty quickly.

[viettaclark]

Do your other girls attack the broody?

[Flossiej]

No they don't seem to attack her but she does appear to keep a low profile. She gets quite stroppy with them sometimes though but they just ignore her.  She tends to like her own company at the moment. Probably just as well given the time she spends in the nest box if we dont intervene.

The strange thing is that the first girl to go broody was the bossy sometimes spiteful  one and since she has broken her broodiness, she has definately sunk down the pecking order. She is much more sociable with the other girls so was probably hormonal for a good while before going broody.

With regards to the bullying I would think it is because she may smell and act differently at the moment so they target her. Try putting an extra feeder and water out for her away from the others then at least she can get her food without having to join the others if she doesn't want to. Mine did eat less whilst they were broody but the first girl is back to normal now and laying everyday. It took about two weeks after she broke her broodiness. She brooded for four weeks but this one has been like it for nearly six now so I hope she stops soon.

[viettaclark]

I'm making progress. Chucked her out and shut off the nest box this afternoon and she went absolutely insane, buzzing round the garden like a jet plane, squawking and puffing up! Really funny!
She is obviously hot....kept scratching holes and rubbing her breast in the damp soil. She also ate and after an initial attack from the others mingled again.
Unfortunately the others lay at odd times and I have to keep checking they've all laid before I can shut the pophole.
They were all a bit narked that they couldn't get in to roost early and were queueing on the ladder at 7!!
Might give her a cold dunk tomorrow!!!

[Flossiej]

Hi just a quick update, our broody, Penny, has finally come back to her senses and rejoined the flock. It was really funny as I found a nice long branch during a clear up of the garden and stuck it in the run (mine don't free range) for them to perch on and she was the first one to hop up onto it. She had been shut out of the coop all day. Well the next morning when I let the girls out she came rushing out with the other girls, first time in six weeks, and straight away hopped up on the perch for a good wing flap! Obviously the draw of a new perch was enough to break her broodiness!

Anyway hope your girl is doing well and doesn't take six weeks to come to her senses.

[hillfooter]

Do your other girls attack the broody?

Yes.  Being the "BROODY" is a responsible communial job in a flock and if the broody abandons the nest for too long the others will reminder to return by giving her a few sharp pecks.

HF

[viettaclark]

I've been shutting the pophole at lunchtime and not opening it til 6.
Galaxy is still trying to brood the other's eggs in the morning and still goes nuts when chucked out but it doesn't take long for her to get used to it.
The other girls are being nicer now and they're all integrated for the afternoon in the garden. She keeps checking the pop hole and is in that nest at 6.......
She's eating well so that's one worry solved.
Is it normal for a broody to not lay? I've had no eggs from her since this started unless it's her who's laying the softies I find every day under the rungs.
Don't think it's likely because she hasn't been leaving the nest box.
Could it be my Bluebelle who's coming to the end of lay, or just upset because of Galaxy?
It's one or the other.....all the others are laying!!!

[Flossiej]

Neither of my girls laid whilst they were broody so that seems to be quite normal behaviour. My first girl took about two weeks to come back into lay once she had ceased being broody. They only problem I have now is that even though neither girls are broody anymore, they have taken to sleeping in the nesting boxes and not roosting like before. I will have to go back to moving them onto the perches at bedtime again!

Glad galaxy is doing ok and now mixing with the other hens without too much bullying going on. Be interesting to see how long she broods for. Keep us posted.

[Casey76]

A broody won't lay while she is broody, and possibly for about 4-6 weeks afterwards (the amount of time it takes for a chick to grow enough to be "abandoned" by mum)

[viettaclark]

That's really informative....thank-you!
So it's Bluebelle laying the softies every day. She's nearly 3.....

[viettaclark]

Interesting update.
Hubby just went out to move Galaxy off the nest onto the rungs and there was an egg under her!
It COULD be Phyllis' but it's a bit dark and shiny. I think she might've started laying!!!
Also checked where Bluebelle is sleeping again and it IS where the softies are laid every night.

[hillfooter]

Interesting update.
Hubby just went out to move Galaxy off the nest onto the rungs and there was an egg under her!
It COULD be Phyllis' but it's a bit dark and shiny. I think she might've started laying!!!
Also checked where Bluebelle is sleeping again and it IS where the softies are laid every night.

If you have a broody the others will try and lay in the nest she's sitting on as, after all, her job is to hatch them so don't assume this egg is your boodies it is almost certainly not.

Being broody is like a phantom pregnancy she will still go through the same procedure as if she in fact had hatched her eggs so as Casey says it could be some while before she lays  again.
HF

[viettaclark]

When I opened the pop hole at 6 Phyllis went in with the broody so it's her egg. She must've had crossed legs....she's been laying at lunch-time!!
Should've known by the lack of speckles but Galaxy has only laid a few eggs so difficult to judge when her eggs are so close in colour......