Angry hen!

[Flummery]

My usually pleasant natured Amber has been running about beaking eveyone's neck like Atilla the Hen the last few days. She has gone broody for ther third time this year. She usually comes out of it within a couple of days but she's hormonal and cross! She's bullying the others something chronic. She hasn't laid for the last 2 days. I don't want to put eggs under her - I'm not prepared to cope with fellas. I've been turfing her out of the nest box and shutting the coop door the last 2 days. She's eating and scratching around but is an absolute pain to the others.

My question is - do other people's frustrated broodies end up uber-maniacs - or is it just my Amber?

[Suechooks]

The only one I had that went broody (an ex-batt) went from being bottom of the pile in everything to a hissing spitting screaming ball of feathers that would take a piece out of anything and everything near her including me! She reverted to her normal retiring self after and it never happened again! As I now have a group of pure-breeds including some bantams I'm not sure whether I'm looking forward to next year or not!

[frias]

One of my ex-batts goes broody regularly. She is also a hormonal crosspatch at the time. I've tried everything including letting her sit on fertile eggs (never again as I can't deal with the boys either) sin binning and turfing off the nest at every opportunity. She gets fed up eventually after about a month and returns to her normal self.

[Nicos]

Gawd...my banties go broody at least every 8-10 weeks!!!!....it takes them about 5 days of depriving them of their nest boxes to stop fluffing up- and then at least 5 more days before they start laying again!
All in all- two weeks loss of eggs for a 'broody' if you catch them straight away....is this the same with other breeds???

..frias...you leave yours for a MONTH????..

[walldanzig]

two broodies at the moment and one of them only hatched 6 weeks ago. Super Broody

[frias]

No, she been sin binned which didn't work and turfed off the nest all day long every day but she's a determined madam and it takes her a month before she gives up. Unfortunately I have a Welsummer that will sit on the nest for 2 hours before she lays and often lays at 7pm so it's really hard to lock the pop hole down until she's laid. Anyway madam broody just makes a nest elsewhere until pop hole is unlocked for girls to go to bed. Then she's up the ramp like a rat up a drainpipe.

[Nicos]

Then she's up the ramp like a rat up a drainpipe.

OMG!!!!....that's EXACTLY what mine do!!!!...and then REALLY miffed when the nesting boxes are blocked off!

[RichmondHens]

Broodies eh - who'd have them!! My banties are going through their next "wave" of broodiness - we have had three waves already this year (when one goes they all go). After enjoying a few more eggs and a hen free nestbox for the last three weeks there are now four very grumpy little girls in there, squealing and squawking away when I go rummaging underneath them.

[Flummery]

Thanks for the reassurance people. Been offline for a day beca$sue my old Ma's been a bit iffy. What with dodgy geriatrics and hormonal chickens I don't know where I am!

Ma looking better today and Amber just fluffing up and growling but not attacking the others so maybe both corners are turned!

[elizajay]

Sorry to hear about your mother Flummery. I wouldn't worry about Amber, I've got one like that and she is fine once she sorts out her hormones!

[Glutton4...]

My sin-binned Broody Battie is still hissing like a snake and fluffing up her feathers every time I go near her. She's not cooled down yet, despite not really wanting to sit - you can't win with some, I guess!