Miss Broody's had a Relapse

Actually, two relapses. 

Last week, just when I thought our broody hen was on track again, she was back to her old tricks. For a couple of days in a row, I'd found Miss Broody sitting in the nest box again. In my May 13 post, I explained about broody hens--they're either trying to hatch eggs, or their hormones have tricked them into thinking they are hatching eggs when they're just sitting on a nest. 

Ruffled feathers!

Actually, a broody hen doesn't really sit, she settles her whole self into the bedding, fluffs out her feathers, and sinks her head into her chest. Her eyes are half closed, and she'll generally act like she's in a stupor. But if you disturb her, she'll squawk or even hiss at you! 

Plus: as far as I can tell broody hens stop laying. 

Anyway, some days ago, finding Miss Broody on the nest, I lifted her out and set her out in the yard with the other 4 hens. She seemed to settle into her normal chicken behavior, scratching the ground and wiggling into the dirt for a dust bath--an especially good sign was that she ate heartily. She joined the other hens on the roost that night too, so I was hopeful she was "cured."

She wasn't. For the last 5 or 6 days, her broody behavior has really settled in. We've closed the nest boxes after laying time, but then she'll sit on the floor of the coop. We've moved her out of the coop into the caged pen, the yard, and into the orchard, but every chance she gets she runs into the coop. So we've closed off the coop in the daytime. Denied a nesting spot, once she's emerged from her broody stupor she'll join the other hens.

But she absolutely will not sleep on the roost. At bedtime, several nights in a row, John and I have lifted her up onto the roost. The night before last, he tried it 5 times. Last night, I tried twice. But she has immediately jumped down and settled back on the floor.

I've found some "chicken whisperers" online, with lots of advice for "breaking" (yep, that's the terminology) a brooder, which includes what we've already tried. One remedy we haven't attempted is a cold-water bath (apparently a broody hen's body temperature runs high, and bringing it down can help). Also, putting her in what one chicken expert calls "chicken jail": isolating the hen in a dog kennel without any bedding. 

Sigh. I hope it won't come to either of those. We've only had a few eggs from the whole flock all week, so I suspect a brooder's pheromones might be impacting the other hens' egg production. Which is a much larger problem than 1 hen not laying.

It's been quite a lesson for me, discovering a hen's implacable instinct, and that I, the puny human, has very little influence on it! I'll let you know how Miss Broody gets along...and if you have some advice, I hope you'll share!

Needless to say, with all the weeds in the garden needing attention, babysitting Miss High-Maintenance Broody is impacting my precious gardening time!