Broody female in winter

[WesselG]

Hi everyone

I have an adult IRN female that seems to be broody but the season for it is all wrong.

With broody I mean: a bald patch on the chest (like the one you would see on a nesting female), "gathering" bits of blankets etc to line a nest with and as recent as yesterday a sudden severe change in behavior.

Considering we're only just going into winter and the normal hatch time for IRN's in South Africa at the earliest is early September it strikes me as odd that a female would display that kind of behavior.

Any thoughts on this would be appreciated.

 

[MonicaMc]

Are you sure she's not plucking herself?

 

[WesselG]

Monica,

I'm sure she is not. I have another female that does and the "bald" patch doesn't look remotely the same on this female.

However, this morning I had another look at her and all her feathers was intact so it seems she was laying or pressing against something that disturbed the feathers on her chest.

 

[MonicaMc]

Well, I do know that we set our homes up for "ideal" breeding times.... with consistent day/night hours, plenty of food, warm food, plenty of places to nest or things to use as nesting material.... so it's quite easy for a hen to feel 'right at home'.


Perhaps you need to change around her environment and diet?

 

[WesselG]

At the moment she's in a cage with a male that has no nest in it but I am in the process of building them an outside aviary with a nest etc.

Her diet hasn't changed recently but I will change it and see if there is any difference.