Buff Orpington girl won’t leave nestbox in dead winter

[Estrella]

Hi all you smart people out there; I have a 10 month old Buff Orpington girl who spends the entire days in the nest box - in the middle of the coldest winter in years in Sweden - without laying any eggs. She will eventually get up and roost at night, but she runt to the preferred nestbox early in the morning and stays there all day. Today I took her out and examined her, she growled at me, she seems completely healthy but I discovered she has very little feathers on her back as our rooster is gigantic and she is his favourite, so I put a saddle on her and released her back in the coop, where she swooshed right back into the nesting box. What is she doing? Is the preparing to go broody? It’s feezing outside, like several degrees below, so this is really not the time… Is she hiding from our rooster? I am considering selling him to give her some peace and quiet. Have anyone had a similar experience? Thanks!

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if she may be going broody.

 

[heartacres]

From what I know Buff Orping are a broody breed. Sounds like she is just broody to me! I live in Vermont and have free range Orpingtons out in as low as 10* F and they’re still laying!! Did she ever start laying before winter came? Usually they begin 6-10 months depending on diet and sunlight exposure. But if her time coincided with winters onset she may be waiting until Spring again. And in Sweden you have a touch less daylight hours then I do here… I would feed her extra treats in her nest box and wait until spring. You may decide having a loyal broody hen with fertilized eggs is just what you want when the warmer weather arrives

 

[Estrella]

Oooh, I was worried you’d say that… oh well. Yes, she did start laying about 2 months ago and she still lays about 3 times/week now. They free range but won’t set foot outside the coop or enclosed winter covered yard when there’s snow, and they have supplemental light in order to have time to get enough food during the day, as we only have like 6 hours of daylight here now. They also get a diet of a variety of seeds and chicken feeds plus fresh green leafy greens, bulgur and corn for treats. Poor girl, I’ll put some eggs under her and make sure she’s well fed and all that. And see what happens. At least she’s not sick! Thanks guys!

 

[heartacres]

Try throwing some hay out for your birds to walk around on when it’s snowy, mine like that. Sounds like you take real good care of your flock

 

[ChickyCh00k]

Oooh, I was worried you’d say that… oh well. Yes, she did start laying about 2 months ago and she still lays about 3 times/week now. They free range but won’t set foot outside the coop or enclosed winter covered yard when there’s snow, and they have supplemental light in order to have time to get enough food during the day, as we only have like 6 hours of daylight here now. They also get a diet of a variety of seeds and chicken feeds plus fresh green leafy greens, bulgur and corn for treats. Poor girl, I’ll put some eggs under her and make sure she’s well fed and all that. And see what happens. At least she’s not sick! Thanks guys!

You could also attempt to "break" her broodiness (unless you want to hatch eggs). I have a buff orp that is a real stinker about broodiness. I have to remove her from the nest several times per day and/or close the coop (preferably when the others have all laid). The last time she went broody I had to wait until just before dark to open the coop and place her on the roost manually or she would get right back in the nest. Maddening!

Anyway, if you want to hatch eggs then that's a different story. If you *don't want to hatch chicks, it may be best to "break" the broody, as it's not super great for her health (they eat, drink, and poop very little when sitting on the nest all day, which can lead to weight loss, and susceptibility to parasites and other issues.)

Best of luck!!

 

[Estrella]

Ok, not good at doing the ”quote” thing so Ill just reply like this. Thank you, Heartacres, I love them and they are so much fun, all their different personalities! I will decide what to do when I see her behaviour tomorrow, right now they have all settled in for night and she’s still in the coop. Maybe I’ll break it, as this is not exaclty the perfect time to raise baby chicks. I have a ”jail” that I use to introduce new chickens to the flock, so I can set that up… I let them out on + degree days, and theyll go out but currently we have very strong winds and blizzards, so no one wants to be outside in Sweden at the moment… I so appreciate all of your answers!

 

[Estrella]

Ok, update. She is soooo broody, poor girl, and it’s her first time so don’t want to traumatize her by putting her in a dog cage so I have isolated her preferred nest box, cornered off the area in the coop, she can still go out but put in her own food and water and shoved 8 fertilized eggs under her, which she seemed happy to get. It’s currently -8 degrees where I’m at (about 17 f) so I’ll be posting updates here for anyone who wants to know how this goes.

 

[K0k0shka]

Buff Orpingtons are a very broody breed so yes it sounds like she's broody. Just because she's broody though, doesn't mean you should give in to her demands and actually let her hatch eggs. As you mentioned, it's way too cold and the wrong time of year for broodiness. It's the wrong time of year for chicks, too. They can manage to some extent, but mid-winter in Sweden, you're pushing it. I would strongly recommend breaking her. If you don't feel comfortable using the crate, you can use a different method, keeping in mind that the point of it is for her to not have a nest, or anything she could make a nest out of. So put her in an enclosure that has no bedding in it.

Domesticated animals, especially chickens, have been changed and shaped by humans to such an extensive degree, that there's very little "natural" left in them, including instincts. Chickens' instincts are all over the place. Often they will kill their own young for no apparent reason at all. They lay every day for months or years at a time - what normal animal does that in nature? They will attack and kill members of their own flock/family for stupid reasons. What social animal does this in nature? Their brooding behavior is all over the place, too - they will go broody at the wrong time of year, or be inconsistent when sitting, or abandon their eggs, or abandon their chicks. So, don't rely on the hen to "know what she's doing", or on "nature" to guide the process. There is nothing natural about a hen going broody in the middle of winter in Sweden. For her own sake, and for that of her future chicks, break her now and try again when the weather starts warming up. Even if you take the fertilized eggs away, just letting her sit is bad for her health, too. Even if you give her food and water right under her nose, she will only get up to eat maybe once or twice a day - enough to survive for a few weeks, but not enough to be healthy and strong and withstand winter. And she may not know when to quit either (speaking of broken instincts) - hens have been known to brood indefinitely if allowed, until they slowly waste away and die. Sitting on eggs is very taxing on a hen's body, because she doesn't eat/drink/move enough, and doing it in a season when her body is already pushed hard to survive, is just extra challenging. Letting her sit because you don't want to have to break her isn't a very good reason to let her brood.

 

[Insnesnakos]

Try throwing some hay out for your birds to walk around on when it’s snowy, mine like that. Sounds like you take real good care of your flock

I should try this but it hasn't snowed at all