chickens are the craziest critters

[bj taylor]

my lone hen (she lives separate from the others) lays white eggs. I could not figure out how she was getting her eggs under my broody. today I watched her go in the coop, climb on top of the broody, shove her way to the back. i pulled her out of there & put her out of the coop. she jumped right back in, then jumped in the nest box where my Wyandotte was pretending to be broody. she climbed into the back of the nest box (12 x 12). the Wyandotte wasn't having it. she whipped up on her. the hen yells & jumps out, but not before laying her white egg. there is plenty of other space for her to lay her egg, but she wanted her eggs under somebody i guess.
you never know what you'll see in nature.

 

[897tgigvib]

She really really wants to have a baby. Maybe you should let her breed at least once.

 

[Smart Red]

She really really wants to have a baby. Maybe you should let her breed at least once.

She doesn't want to breed or she would be broody. The most she would get is a surrogate to incubate, protect, and raise her babies for her.

Actually, she is just trying to find a safe place for her eggs. Perhaps the broody hen is high on the pecking order and therefore 'controls' one of the safest places for egg laying. I was always finding newly laid eggs under my Hilda. I kept removing each new egg and left the original 5 eggs for her to tend.

 

[897tgigvib]

See, I don't know anything about chickens.

 

[bj taylor]

I get that she wants a safe place to lay eggs. i'll try to accommodate her. she has been bred. my rooster has mated w/her several times, but when he's done he tries to kill her. that's why she lives solitary. i'm such a sucker I just try to make her life as quality as I can. she gets so lonely. she's tried to join the flock multiple times but he's so bad to her she's given up. in the evening when we're sitting on the back patio, she joins the dogs, cats, and us for a general hang out time. bless her little chicken heart.

 

[so lucky]

Maybe you should isolate the rooster, and only "utilize" him when needed.

 

[catjac1975]

It appears to me that the roosters keep track of who has been mated that day. When a hen has hidden out for the day the roosters lie in wait at dusk when she heads for the henhouse.

 

[canesisters]

Or maybe set her up in a little pen/tractor with one other friend - a sweet tempered bantam faverolle perhaps.

 

[bj taylor]

i have thought about isolating him. my system is geared for free range, so it would be a challenge - but not impossible.
catjac1975, i think there's a lot of fact in your comment. he is sooooo stealthy. normally he's loud and obnoxious, but when he's stalking her, he's utterly silent.

i like your idea canesisters a lot. i think this might be the most feasible way for me to go. she needs chicken companionship. i think i'm going to start working to this end. she's a pathetic girl & i have doubts she will ever fit into a typical flock. she's so passive the chicks peck her & she hunkers & yells. she's damaged goods & she's going to stay with me for as long as she needs a home. my forays into raising chickens for meat isn't going to include her. i just have to convince myself that every chicken isn't special and therefore must be saved from the soup pot.