am i doing the right thing with my broody hen?

[havenever]

i dont know if this first bit is relevant;i had 4 chickens and they had 'paired up'. One died recently and her friend has now gone broody.

she sits in the old coop all day, with no eggs. When i put her back into the current coop for the night, 1 of the others picks on her

so tonight ive moved her into the old coop by herself. Thinking ill let her get over it in her own time. Also i can tell if she is laying at all that way

or, do i have to stop her doing it?

Thanks

If you keep her separate, it's going to be all the more difficult for her to integrate with the others again.
I would block off the old coop so she can't get in at all. This may break the broodiness and she'll get back to her old self.

If she carries on being broody, there are a few different things you can try - put her in a wire cat carrier propped up on bricks so she has air all around her for a day or two sometimes works. If you google, you'll probably find other ways.

If you want to hatch out some chicks, leave her in the old coop and carefully put fertile eggs under her when it's dark. Only do this if you are prepared to deal with any cockerels though!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/chicken_keepers

You may have more luck here.

No disrespect Fav, I wasn't sure there would be a reply in Chat. x

Thanks guys. I did google, but i got confused!

i don't have fertile eggs.

ill block off the old coop. I feel sorry for her, because bully-chicken keeps pecking and squawking at her

Poor bullied hen.

What do you do about mean hens??

What would happen if you got her a new friend?

I agree with Fav about the pen. One of mine went broody recently and I blocked off her access to the nesting box. At night time I seperated her from the others by putting her in a cat box (I had to seperate her because she was grouchy with them!). My understanding though is when you are dealing with bullying hens it is the bully you usually remove for a while. Have you tried the Omlet forums or Backyard Chickens for advice?

I am getting 2 more at the weekend. I could put the broody with them...or maybe the bully?!

its getting a bit complicated!

Yes, remove the bully hen - perhaps put her in the old coop so she is in sight of the other two, then reintroduce after a few days.

As you lost a chicken recently, all the bully hen is doing is sorting out the pecking order, it should settle down relatively quickly.

Do they have plenty of space? Prolonged bullying is often because they are cramped up.

You could try putting interesting things into the pen - a branch or two to perch on and hide under, large upturned flowerpots, chop down some nettles and hang them up in the pen, hang up a sweeheart cabbage, give extra treats (wheat, corn, pasta, porridge) to keep them busy.

X-post.
If you're getting more, put them all into the coop together when it's dark (don't introduce the new ones until then), leave them shut in for a day or two, with food and water.

When you let them out, try interesting stuff in pen and extra treats, like in said before.

Thanks. That's the plan then...

Remove bully to old coop
leave remaining 2 in current coop and introduce 2 new ones when dark
then reintroduce bully after some days

?

they shouldn't be bored. They free range all day

Chicken keeping sounds complicated.

It was a breeze, until last week

Have - because you are getting new ones, don't bother putting the bully in the only coop, just keep them all together, otherwise you'll go through the pecking order rigmarole all over again!

Sparkling - it's very easy really, but they don't take kindly to losing or gaining friends! They are the best and easiest pets ever (IMO anyway!)

Chicken keeping does occupy a lot of my thoughts but its very entertaining!

I feel really sorry for broody hen who lost her friend and is now being bullied... Sounds like the perfect plot for a kids book though!

I love hens.

I feel really sorry for her orchid!! I want to take her to bed with me!

The m

The mean chicken attacked ME this morning!!! That's not right is it?? Little demon!

Ha ha! Broody ladies can be a bit grumpy. DH wasn't brave enough to turf ours of the nest box when we realised she was broody!

But its not the broody one which is being horrid! She is really sweet...