Broody signs?

[Gigachad poultry]

So I have a hen named Kikimora and although she's normally been very quick about laying her daily egg and leaving. I have recently begun to see a LOT of shed breast feathers and fluffy down feathers in one of the best boxes where she's always tends to lay her eggs. The only pulled out feathers are full black and she's the only full black hen I have and 95% of them are neatly and perfectly lined along the circular shape of the nest. She is 100% not molting and as seen from the photo I took a few days ago, she's collected quite a lot of feathers!

I've decided to start letting eggs collect for about a week or two and I've actually started realizing that she's spending as many as 6-7 hours a day on the nest! She has always laid around 9-10am in the morning and is actually one of the first in my flock to lay every morning. So you can imagine my rather recent surprise when I came home at around 3pm to see her hunkered down on her nest the past week or so!

Upon this new fondness for sitting on the nest, she's also started to completely change her body language too! She normally has the same shape an average Leghorn or skinny breed...

But as you can see that has most definitely changed! Although this photo doesn't do it much credit, she has gotten a lot more fluffy!

And I've also been hearing a change in her voice, which is normally very calm and quiet. However now she sounds rather cranky and has even started getting temperamental whenever she's off the nest.

I tend to VERY rarely get broody hens do I don't want to get my hopes up and accidentally jinx it or somethin'... But is it possible that she's becoming broody?

This was her after spending about 3 1/2 hours on the nest this morning, she was not too happy with me trying to pet her as you can see! (she is normally incredibly flighty too so this is very strange!)

 

[wrathsfarm]

So I have a hen named Kikimora and although she's normally been very quick about laying her daily egg and leaving. I have recently begun to see a LOT of shed breast feathers and fluffy down feathers in one of the best boxes where she's always tends to lay her eggs. The only pulled out feathers are full black and she's the only full black hen I have and 95% of them are neatly and perfectly lined along the circular shape of the nest. She is 100% not molting and as seen from the photo I took a few days ago, she's collected quite a lot of feathers! View attachment 4096071
I've decided to start letting eggs collect for about a week or two and I've actually started realizing that she's spending as many as 6-7 hours a day on the nest! She has always laid around 9-10am in the morning and is actually one of the first in my flock to lay every morning. So you can imagine my rather recent surprise when I came home at around 3pm to see her hunkered down on her nest the past week or so!

Upon this new fondness for sitting on the nest, she's also started to completely change her body language too! She normally has the same shape an average Leghorn or skinny breed...View attachment 4096072 But as you can see that has most definitely changed! Although this photo doesn't do it much credit, she has gotten a lot more fluffy!View attachment 4096077
And I've also been hearing a change in her voice, which is normally very calm and quiet. However now she sounds rather cranky and has even started getting temperamental whenever she's off the nest.

I tend to VERY rarely get broody hens do I don't want to get my hopes up and accidentally jinx it or somethin'... But is it possible that she's becoming broody?

This was her after spending about 3 1/2 hours on the nest this morning, she was not too happy with me trying to pet her as you can see! (she is normally incredibly flighty too so this is very strange!)View attachment 4096078

Sounds like she's getting ready to go broody.
The main trigger warning for me, is spending overnight off the roost, in the nest box 2 full night's. Other signs I look for is more time in the nest box than off, and her vocal constant 'cluck, cluck, clucks' around the yard. Growling when around other flock members or myself come near her on and off the nest and she may start puffing up like a turkey on and off the nest. All this may increase as she goes full blown broody.

I let her sit temporarily til I've got what eggs I want to 'set' under her this is usually 4-5 days to guarantee she's broody and committed. Eggs I'm setting under her are dated, and have a circle drawn around them to insure I can spot other eggs being deposited and removed to avoid a staggered hatch. I have added eggs to her nest but at most a maximum of 2 days after my set date.

Good luck with your girl...

 

[Mrs. K]

I agree, many, many times, I have found a hen playing at being broody, only to roost all night, eggs are toast…then two or three days later go full blown determined and I am scrambling to get eggs.

Wait till they are in the nest for two nights, then mark and set your eggs, and try not to bother her at all.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

I agree, many, many times, I have found a hen playing at being broody, only to roost all night, eggs are toast…then two or three days later go full blown determined and I am scrambling to get eggs.

i wonder when my hen might go broody, hopefully soon though!

Wait till they are in the nest for two nights, then mark and set your eggs, and try not to bother her at all.

I've been letting her hoard golf balls and tan eggs (she lays blue eggs)

 

[Cosmo Lily]

Kikimora’s (most probably) going broody!! The feather pulling, all the time on the nest, and her attitude change are pretty clear signs.

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Sounds like she's getting ready to go broody.
The main trigger warning for me, is spending overnight off the roost, in the nest box 2 full night's. Other signs I look for is more time in the nest box than off, and her vocal constant 'cluck, cluck, clucks' around the yard. Growling when around other flock members or myself come near her on and off the nest and she may start puffing up like a turkey on and off the nest. All this may increase as she goes full blown broody.

I'll need to check on her tonight to see if she's in the nest box, she's usually the first in the flock to roost alongside her sister. I actually went outside recently to attempt to collect eggs and today she got more fluffy and loud that I've ever seen a chicken get in my entire life! I was bit quite a bit too lol

she lunged at me while screeching and after i quickly grabbed the eggs from the nest next to me, she waddled back to her eggs while clucking over and over and very carefully sat back down with a honestly surprising amount of attention. She even closed her feet while moving over her nest and only opened them once she was sure she wasn't stepping on them

I let her sit temporarily til I've got what eggs I want to 'set' under her this is usually 4-5 days to guarantee she's broody and committed. Eggs I'm setting under her are dated, and have a circle drawn around them to insure I can spot other eggs being deposited and removed to avoid a staggered hatch. I have added eggs to her nest but at most a maximum of 2 days after my set date.

I'm hoping to check on her flock tonight to see if she's still roosting, hopefully she's sleeping happily on her nest

Good luck with your girl...

Thanks!

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Kikimora’s (most probably) going broody!! The feather pulling, all the time on the nest, and her attitude change are pretty clear signs.

My hand got quite the painful response when I tried to collect the other eggs in the nest next to her this morning lol

 

[Gigachad poultry]

Update: I was doing some tending to my patch of wildflowers in the back of my chicken yard and Kikimora started SCREAMING and ran full dipped super fluffed up!!! She had practically exploded off her nest and continued to run around eating some of the left over scratch I had given the flock earlier. She eventually calmed down... Ish... And crankily walked around the flock towards the water...

 

[Gigachad poultry]

This was her like an hour ago, luckily I didn't get too close and she only puffed up a little

 

[wrathsfarm]

Some random thoughts to think about. Some may not apply depending on your setup.
If your hen is lower ranking and the nest is popular, this could get problematic. Getting bullied off the nest consistently especially in a large flock leads to eggs being knocked around and broken which is a mess.
Depending on nest box location, if you feel you want to separate her to a nest on the floor or to a brooder within the coop now is the best time to do that. At this time you can relocate the eggs to see if she'll take to them in another nest.
I have success moving my broodys just before hatch to a separate brooder under the poop boards at anytime BUT... I take the whole nest box that she's fully committed to. When I let her out to do her daily's over the next few days... I'm vigilant to gather all other eggs in non broody nests and direct her back to her nest if she needs it.
I like doing this way as it gives her focus to the eggs and chicks at hatch for the first few days but still fully integrated within the flock.
I have other hens that I do let hatch with the flock, as I know their temperament towards flock mates.