Im having a problem with one of my hens..

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hi all, Ive been away for the past week and left my mother in charge of my 3 chickens, shes quite capable of doing so and she has done many times in the past, however, this time when I came home, one of my hens, does not leave the coup, she lays in the corner of the coupe and doesnt move all day, and when you lift thde lid, her feathers al perk up and she starts making a squeaking noise, she looks up at me and pushes herself further down into the hay, doesnt anyone know what could be wrong with her?

Shes stopped layin now, and if you pick her up and take her out of the coup shell walk around for a while, I cant see any where she could be hurt,,,,


All advice and help will be much appreciated, thank you, Jazz
 
Hi,

Those appear to be classsic symptons of Broodiness. I have spent all summer trying to cater for 3 of my 5 hens going broody, as have a lot of people on here.

I am sure someone more knowledgeable will confirm that it is broodiness and nothing more sinister.

As long as you make sure she is removed from the nest area to eat and drink and have some fresh air she should be ok. Whether you want her to sit on eggs is another matter. If you don't want her sitting there, I would remove her and if possible shut the house up. Obviously if othe hens need to lay this can cause problems. I have 3 temporary houses on the go for each broody hen. They are all in a bad mood, and seem to charge round the garden, at manic speed, clucking and generally pushing the other girls out of the way. At the moment two of them are sitting outside their hen house on the floor waiting for me to let them in. I give them at least two hours, if not more, garden time.


We let one of our determined broodys sit on a clutch of eggs, which she did brilliantly but sadly the actual hatching and chick rearing was not to be for her..... but thats another post. PS. by removing the eggs, as soon as they are laid, it should discourage her! Vigilance is the key, they are so persitant. You can try and break the broodiness and there is lots of advice on here. So let us know what you decide to do.

ALl the best, Sharron
 
ok brilliant, I was 70% that It would be broodiness after checking through other threads like this... Removing her would be a good idea, but the other hens arent bothered by her, and she keeps the eggs nice and warm. So I think ill just let them out in the morning, and shut this broody hen out aswell once theyve all laid there eggs, thank you very much for replying!
 
Hi,

I don't use the eggs if I think my broody has sat on them for any for more than a couple of hours. Maybe I am being a bit paranoid... maybe someone could give you more advice about this.

As for the length of time they can be broody- well my experience this summer has told us that it can be about 3 weeks more or less. We have one particular Pekin, who is now broody for the 4th or 5th time. She is now into her second week, along with another Pekin. We did break her, as such, the first time-firstly we dunked her for a few seconds in cold water, which is meant to distract them from being broody whilst they are preening themselves. Secondly we isolated her in a run and coop, with no warm and cosy bedding material, but the other girls just moped around her all day keeping some sort of vigal. It did work for about two weeks, but she must just be a particulary broody girl.

Most people I have spoken to recommend a wire bottomed cage- or such like, basically so that they can't get too comfy. We have now learnt to just work around them all, having realised that broodiness is just a trait of our adorable perkins.

Hope this helps, Sharron
 
hi, just keep locking her out of the house- make sure she has access to food/water/shelter- just let her in at night to roost- they can take a while to stop being broody :shock:
regards, David :)
 
ok, thanks for all your advice, since locking her out shes come back around to normal slightly.. just have to see how she is in the morning.. really appreciate your help.. was considering gettin a vet to look at her before this information, Thanks, Jazz
 
It might take a little while for her to break out of her broodiness so be patient and persistent with her.
 
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