Dealing with Little Peckers

For the last 2 months I have had one of my hens go into brood mode.  Poor Broodie was determined to become a mother and she had the other hens laying eggs in her nest with high promises of babies.  I did a Google search and discovered that I had to put her in a hanging cage to discourage such behaviour but that was just too much effort for me.  So I chose the alternative of scooping her out of the next once a day and getting her out on the grass to get sunshine and nourishment.  Eventually she would go back into the chicken house, hop into her nest and continue putting on the heat.  Part of that process included ripping feathers off her breast and tucking them around her eggs.

Every morning I would take the eggs away and tell Broodie “it’s never going to happen sweetheart” but she’d look at me with sad little eyes and continue to sit on the empty nest.

Earlier this week I noticed she was not in her nest, she had finally gotten out of her brood mode and joined her sisters in the search for bugs, leaves and other treats.  I noticed she was looking rather mottled, with feathers sticking out here and there but last night I noticed a huge bare spot on her neck and realized that the other hens had started pecking on her.  Well, it was quite the chase to get her isolated but finally I caught her up in my arms and put her in the Isolation Booth.  In fact, it’s the area locked off from the rest of the coop where I keep the feed and other paraphernalia of my chicken empire.  I had set up clean water, special seed treats, feed and fresh straw for my little Broodie.  She was desperate to get out of the room and tried to run through my legs but I just repeated “it’s never going to happen sweetheart, this is for your own good”.

I went outside and stared through the window.  She stood by the door, looking up at the doorknob, looking so forlorn my heart squeezed tight.  Finally she started rooting around in the straw and I thought she’d be fine.

I’m off to the coop this morning, hoping to goodness she has not pined away in misery all night!