Hello all, I am a beginner with egg laying chickens. I have had them (4) about a year now. All was well until a week ago. One hen is staying in the coop, sitting on eggs. About 4 weeks ago they discovered they could eat the eggs. My problem is the one hen that stays on the eggs may be sick. Eyes are clear, she is cooing as well as seems to be eating and drinking. She has lost all her feathers on her belly. I gave her a bath to wash the broken egg off. Could someone advise me if this is normal or should i seek a vet?

I have spent the night reviewing info on this site, could my biddie just be broody. Would that explain the loss of all her bottom feathers? I am worried it may be parasites but i dont know how to tell. The other hens seem fine. Tommorow i will spend the day with them and follow the advice i read to get them to stop eating eggs since the others eat the eggs while paulette is sitting on them, making a mess on her. I would appreciate a contact for help.

Yes, she is broody. Not sick at all. They often develop a broody patch of bare skin to keep the eggs warm. In the past week, I posted twice on how to 'break' broody hens.

If she is broody and you want her to continue to hatch, consider isolating her in a separate broody pen, but understand this is sometimes hard to do once they decide where "their" nest is. I like to get hens in the biddy pen as soon as possible when they start being broody. They have feed and water in there and don't get in the habit of getting down from a nest to eat and drink while other hens take over the eggs. This switch in the nest seems to go on just long enough for the biddy to take up her duties on another nest, leaving the clutch to cool when the new hen finishes her routine for the day.
If you don't want her to continue, take the eggs every day, and at roosting time, or after dark, take her off the nest and set her on the roost for the night.