Let me start by saying that we have had a little broodiness before. No big deal...we moved the chicken out of the nesting box a few times, collected the eggs and all was good. But this time...no eggs in the nesting box for two days! The ladies ALWAYS lay their eggs in the same nesting box. It just didn't seem right...what was going on...why weren't they laying?
Inspecting things one day, I noticed one chicken missing from the flock in the chicken yard. It was a fairly hot day, so I checked inside the coop to make sure all was well. There she was all sprawled out...away from the nesting boxes. I tried to move her, but she showed me an attitude that I had not seen before. She puffed her feathers out, cackled a weird sound, and gave me a mean look. Ms. Brood was moody! In reality she was brooding - a natural instinct to hatch eggs. In her mind, she was protecting her nest of eggs from what she perceived as a threat.
We had to physically move her! Guess what we found? Seven eggs! She had managed to move them from the nesting box, across the coop and into the corner. Yes, she was determined, but it wasn't going to work...there is no rooster! She could lay on those eggs for a year, and nothing would hatch...they weren't fertile. She wouldn't hear of it though...
CLICK HERE to read the rest of this article that I wrote for Community Chickens. I explain how we put her in time out to work through her problems.
Love the look in her eyes, LB! She looks like she's saying, "What eggs??There are no eggs here" One of mine comes and goes with her broodiness self. She hasn't gotten real feisty, but I feel so sorry for her sitting in the nesting box in this heat and humidity. I try to cool her down with some ice cold water. Off to read your article. Have a lovely weekend! ~CB
ReplyDeleteChickens are so amazing. Poor little Ms. Broody....she just wants some little chicks!
ReplyDeleteAwe poor broody girl. She just wants some babies :)
ReplyDeleteWe have one in our hen house at the moment and she was quite mean to me yesterday when I tried to remove the eggs from beneath her. If she continues to stay in the nest we will transfer her to a separate pen away from the other girls to sit on some eggs. We have roosters so no problems with fertile eggs here.
XTania