Broody hen??

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Hello!
We have had 2 of our hens for almost a year, who have been laying consistently every day, but over the last 2 days, one of them (Tikka, the boss!) has been staying in the hen house, looking fluffier than normal, and getting quite narky when i go to collect the eggs in the morning. She also has been sitting on the other hens eggs. I turf her out every time i see her doing it, and she seems ok out and about, eating her layers pellets and grains, having a clean, and drinking the garlic clove laced water(ACV treated once a week) and her poo is definately normal, no lice or mites( I checked her this morning) but she does seem to be "talking" to herself, a quiet "chooking" sound that is not her usual noise. Her tail is also fanned out all the time, rather than being "pointed" like usual. Is she just broody?
I am aware that she (and her friend Fajita) should be coming into their first moult soon, is there anything I can do to help her out of this?? This is the first time anything has been out of the ordinary with our chickens, I've dealt with egg bound bantams, and even a small case of bumblefoot(Tikka again mind!)that seemed to clear up of it's own accord.(lucky I guess lol x) I just want my hens to be happy so I am a bit worried about her.
:? Any thoughts??
 
Welcome Magpiegemthief! :-)99 :-)99

Your hen is obviously well looked after and happy, this is probably why she has decided to become broody! It would be advisable to keep her away from her nesting area if possible to break her broodiness, and this will need a bit of patience from you as some ladies can be quite persistent!
it sounds like they have everything they need to get through a moult well, if it is a particulary hard moult ie. all their feathers drop at once, then adding a small amount of "poultry spice" mixed with a teaspoon of cod liver oil into their feed twice a week with help to support them, by providing extra essential minerals their body will need to develop their new winter wardrobe.

Moulting is a completely normal process, and a healthy hen shouldn't have a problem with it..however.. it's us owners that worry especially when confronted with a run that looks like a pillow has exploded! :D
 
Thankyou for the welcome!!
I'll readily admit that we have never used poultry spice before, i usually raid my spice and herb rack when i make the veggie mash twice a week out of leftovers...and add olive oil to it too...would that be enough? I also regularly crush one of my multivitamin tablets and add 1/2 of that to their water once a week for a boost...
 
HaHa! Gotta laugh...just pitched Tikka outta the hen house again for the dozenth time this morning, and put the door up so she can't get back in, and what does she do?? Digs a scrape under the hen house (it's on legs) and is now collecting twigs, leaves and odd feathers, and putting them on her back?!?!?!?, and is busy nest building right next to the food container. Nice spot eh? I guess she is going to be bull headed about this broody behaviour..time for a big sweep out to get rid of possible nesting material methinks!!!
 
Practical Poultry letter suggested slipping a freezer pack under her to break the broodyness. We tried that and the thing melted in a few hours. So we tried a bigger one and same result. She's back in a broody run attached to the main run. It has food and water and the others can see her but with just woodchip on the floor there is nowhere to nest. Usually takes a maximum of 3 days in there. If you let them out too early and they get to the nest box the count starts again so best keep them in too long than not long enough.
 
chrismahon said:
Practical Poultry letter suggested slipping a freezer pack under her to break the broodyness. We tried that and the thing melted in a few hours. So we tried a bigger one and same result. She's back in a broody run attached to the main run. It has food and water and the others can see her but with just woodchip on the floor there is nowhere to nest. Usually takes a maximum of 3 days in there. If you let them out too early and they get to the nest box the count starts again so best keep them in too long than not long enough.
Click to expand...

In most cases just keep lifting her off the nest, she will be fine if not a little grumpy. I feel it is a bit extreme and would imagine very uncomfortable have a freezer bag slipped underneath!
Ensure she has food and a drink when you turf her off (repeatedly... :D ) and I am afraid you will just have to be firm. If you do get worried later then we can think again if you feel her health is at risk, however, I have never lost a hen before to broodiness.
 
hi, welcome :D :-)99 :-)99 :-)99
some people recommend dipping their belly feathers in water, they wont sit on wet feathers.
other people recommend a dog cage, very uncomfortable
, i just tend to let them have chicks, but if you dont want chicks u can put her in a seperate run, and give her plastic eggs, prob with that is she still spends the same amunt of time on plastic eggs,
so yeah, search the internet, continue to :D chuck her out or try something else!
 
Trouble is with letting them sit on eggs is they loose a lot of weight and can become ill. Then their absence messes up the pecking order and they are too weak to defend themselves anyway. Loulou has completely lost her confidence after last time she hatched and reared. We put her back in coop too soon, she needed a month to build her back up again.
 
If you don't want them broody, take them off by putting them in a dog crate with nothing to build a nest with. Just give food and water and make sure she's dry and predador safe.
It's not a good idea to let them sit on dummy eggs for a variety of reasons and only if you are fully committed to hatching chicks should you give her fertile ones.
 
Thank you all for the advice, it's much appreciated!!
I've made a sleeping area for her in another part of the run, out of a large water tank, on it's side with an inch of shavings inside, and fenced her off from the others, just so she can't get back into the hen house. I'll open it back up during the day after i've collected the eggs from the rest, then i'll close the house again afterwards. I don't think I'm ready to hatch chicks this year, or i'd buy ready to hatch eggs for her. I did use a dummy egg when we first got them, just to encourage laying, but to use one now seems unfair to her. We'll see how it goes, but she's a stubborn one. She now runs up to me with her wings out, tail fanned out, as if she's telling me off!!!
 
Well, all my efforts paid off! She stopped being broody after a few more days, and is back to being her usual bossy self. We had her first egg yesterday, but noticed my leghorn hadn't laid hers....and guess what?...yep..she's now the broody one!! Caught her in the hen house this morning, piling shavings up and collecting odd feathers!!! Now to start all over again...*sighs* x
 
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