My life as a chicken mama has had its challenges lately. There is a lot of chicken drama on the homestead. It wasn’t that long ago that we brought home four new Serama chickens. We were enjoying getting to know them and spending quality time with them. Then Barbie went broody. Overnight, she was not the same chicken that we brought home. She was definitely mean and aggressive.
I did my best to break the broodiness, but she is a stubborn one. I had always heard that broodiness could be a bit contagious, so I was worried about that. Even when I was able to keep Barbie out of the nesting boxes, she started just hanging out on the roost. I would throw her out often so that she could eat, drink, and forage some. Barbie even ended up on the roof of the house.
It wasn’t long until our original hen, Buster, went broody. Once again, I did my best to break her, but she too can be stubborn. When she is able to get in the coop she will lay right outside the blocked nesting boxes. Next, our little Lilah started to act broody. I could not believe that I had three broody chickens on my hands. It has been a challenge for me.
We had one other chicken, Kota, that was laying, and I thought she might be going broody. She was not herself, and I was worried about her. She did quit laying, but it turned out that she had worms. That was the last thing that I needed. It put me in high-strung chicken-mama mode. When I got the diagnosis from the vet, we brought home the dewormer ready to take on the fun task of trying to give all the girls the medicine.
It was not fun, and we still have to give another round of treatment. Barbie was pecking at me while my husband held her. After my husband put Lilah back in the coop and grabbed one of the other hens, she attacked him. None of the girls are used to us handling them, but the broody ones are easier to catch. Lilah has even flown onto our shoulders and hung out. That was a new one for us.
I am worried about Kota because her poo still has a bit of yellow in it, but it is much better than it was. She does seem to be doing the normal chicken things other than laying eggs. I think she is more active than earlier in the week. Our other hen, Nailie, has not been laying, so she and Kota hang out together while the other chicks continue their broody ways.
It seems like the broodiness is never going to end. Since nobody is laying we have been locking out the broody girls for much of the day. I hope that will help at some point. They can’t stand it. I am ready for everyone to get back to normal and back to being productive. I want all my girls to be happy and healthy.
