Can a POL go broody?

[SuzyB]

Afternoon people

Ask the subject says, can a POL chicken that hasnt laid go broody? My skyline, Blossom who I got last Sunday has been acting a little strange today. She's torn up her house completely, then when she's been let out this morning, she's what can only be described as stomped around as if she's on a mission. She's tried to get on the shed roof, been looking in corners etc, so I thought perhaps she was looking for somewhere to lay her first egg. I found a shell less on on the floor of the run this morning so I think she's almost there.

Anyway, she looked to be getting really frustrated as wherever she went, the older girls came and disturbed her so to stop her trying to scale the shed again, Ive shut her and her buddy into the big run. She explored for a moment, then went into the nesting box and very nosily, trashed that then came out again.

Now she's under the house and has been for about 1/2 hour making the perfect nest. I've sat and watched her, she's very carefully picking single pieces of wood chip up and placing them around herself. Is this a chicken preparing for a first egg, or does this sound like a broody blossom? Im going to have to move her shortly as the others will no doubt go in and batter her later so she'll need to move back to the shed where they are for the moment until they all get along a little better. Any advice?

[Suechooks]

Sounds pretty hormonal! Difficult to say and she probably doesn't know herself. My guess is she's going to lay but her hormones will be haywire so she may act broody. The answer really is just wait and see! She'll object to being moved if she's broody - my only ex-batt who went broody changed from a meek timid bottom of the pecking order bird into a hissing spitting pecking ball of inflated feathers!

[SuzyB]

Thanks Sue.

She gave up after about an hour and wandered off so that was that!

Cleaned out their little home and found another softie in with the straw. My other question is, when a chicken lays a particular coloured egg, does the colour take time or should it be whatever colour they lay straight from the start?

[Suechooks]

I think once they get in the swing the colour will be fairly consistent. It does however fade before they go "off lay" before a moult. There may be a slight variation day to day. My friend has a cream legbar and she started with a pale blue egg but it went to a "proper" blue fairly quickly.
I have a 6 year old Speckledy who lays a lovely dark brown egg - she stops laying for the winter and then back in spring and I can always tell hers so it doesn't go away even when they get older.

[frias]

Suzy, my Wellie starting laying on the 14th March. She utterly trashed the nest box and after sitting in it for hours, laid her egg in the run. She has repeated that 3 more times this week so I think it's just confusion at what's happening to her. I've no idea why she spends so long in the nest box and then doeasn't lay there. The eggs have all been really dark brown as I believe Wellie eggs should be.