Acts broody but still laying eggs

[SueT]

My 1 yr old Sebright has been showing all the signs of being broody. Stays in nest, and if removed, she runs around all puffed up, tail spread like a turkey, constantly chirping her warning at everyone. She did this last fall and I let her hatch eggs. But she wasn't a good mom and I'm not letting her hatch again. Besides we have no fertile eggs.
But, this time, things are different. she hasn't stopped laying. I had her in the wire cage for the past 36 hours, and she laid an egg in there. She did not keep it warm. So assuming she isn't broody after all, I removed her from the cage this morning. But she ran around in the broody stance, chirping every second, then returned to the nest. So, is she broody? BTW, it's freezing here. I thought 2 nites in that cage might cool her down. I don't know what to think now.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Some seem to have a pre-broody stage. Kinda like the preheat on your oven. Some get clucking and prepping before they lay that last egg. I've also had what I call walking broodies. They don't set, but they cluck, fluff, and screech.

 

[SueT]

Some seem to have a pre-broody stage. Kinda like the preheat on your oven. Some get clucking and prepping before they lay that last egg. I've also had what I call walking broodies. They don't set, but they cluck, fluff, and screech.

That's good to know! I'll just let her be free and see how it goes then.

 

[jewelg]

I know this is an old post, but one of our silkies is doing the same thing! We keep thinking she’s going broody, but then she’ll lay after sitting in the nesting box for hours. If I take her out before she lays, she goes right back into the nesting box. If I take her out after she lays, it takes her a minute to shake it off, and then she eats, poops, drinks, and heads off to frolic with the other birds. I’m thinking she’s trying to get a clutch of eggs ready to sit on, but I keep taking them away... should I put an ice pack in that nesting box if she’s still laying? Would that keep her from going all the way broody?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

An ice pack will do nothing. When you keep a breed that goes chronically broody you will need to set up a way to break them. Generally they will go broody multiple times a year. They can become depleted if allowed to sit constantly, so as soon as you get that last egg she should go into a wire bottom crate slightly elevated off the ground for 3-7 days.

 

[Sally PB]

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/how-to-break-a-broody.1424103/#post-23422847

See post #4. @aart has some good info and a picture of her setup.

 

[aart]

I know this is an old post, but one of our silkies is doing the same thing! We keep thinking she’s going broody, but then she’ll lay after sitting in the nesting box for hours. If I take her out before she lays, she goes right back into the nesting box. If I take her out after she lays, it takes her a minute to shake it off, and then she eats, poops, drinks, and heads off to frolic with the other birds. I’m thinking she’s trying to get a clutch of eggs ready to sit on, but I keep taking them away... should I put an ice pack in that nesting box if she’s still laying? Would that keep her from going all the way broody?

Sounds more like a 'lounger' to me.
No, an ice pack not the way to go here.
Don't do anything, but observe, until you're sure she's broody.

These are my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

 

[SueT]

I thought I should update this old thread, since it was revived. Yes, she was becoming broody. Ever since, she has gone broody about 6 times a year, laying eggs up to and including the first couple broody days. In 2019 and 2020, I let her hatch eggs and she was an excellent mom. In between hatchings, if broody, she goes to the wire cage in our basement. It takes about 2 days. Nothing else seemed to work. Being broody is such an altered state of mind, that she just kind of accepts the cage in a daze. I put a radio nearby for company and it really isn't traumatic at all.

But of course she'd rather be doing this:

I will let her hatch eggs this year if she asks.

 

[jewelg]

Sounds more like a 'lounger' to me.
No, an ice pack not the way to go here.
Don't do anything, but observe, until you're sure she's broody.

These are my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Thanks so much, @aart - she does all the above, so I think she IS broody. Our other silkie went broody two weeks ago and shook it off a few days ago- just started laying again- but I’ve heard it’s catching....

@SueT - thanks for your update, and my goodness, what a gorgeous hen! These are our first chickens, so we’re still learning their rhythms and how to respond. I’ll start tracking the broody “cycles” and see how many there are a year so we know what’s normal for them.
We have a chicken scooter (small chicken tractor) we could use as a separate enclosure, but our other hen broke with encouragement- being taken out of the nesting box once the other hens had laid, closing the door to the nesting boxes (preventing access), moving her out of the nesting box at night, and putting ice packs under her, though I’ve now heard the ice packs don’t help. We’ll try the pen this time and see if we can flip her back to laying faster than we did our other hen. Thank you, everyone, as always, for sharing your own experiences!