A new chicken insight
May 7th, 20122 comments
My hen hasn't died since Thursday, so I'm reviewing her symptoms:
- She stopped laying
- She sleeps in the nesting box
- She stays in the nesting box all day unless I kick her out
- Her belly is de-feathered and red.
BUT:
- When I stick my finger up her bottom I find no stuck egg
- When I kick her off the nesting box she roams happily in the yard where she walks, pecks, and poops normally.
- She continues to be alive.
Insight:
Maybe she's broody!
I learn today on the internet this key piece of information: a broody hen will stop laying eggs, will sleep in the nesting box, and will PULL OUT HER OWN BELLY FEATHERS to line the nesting box and to get a better feel of the eggs under her.
If this is the case, then I have gone about things all wrong. I should be bathing her in cold water rather than hot, to get her temperature down. Also, I should start feeling like an idiot.