no rooster. just let the broody girl be or not?

No problem at all. Just let her alone. You don't hafta take her off the nest as she will do it as needed. When she gets tired of it, she'll return to the flock............Pop

You want to weigh the benefits and liabilities of letting the hen brood or breaking her.

Some of the problems a broody might encounter are severe weight loss and lack of nutrition. Also, it will be three weeks of feeling very irritable - sort of like hen PMS. She isn't sitting on a nest because she enjoys it. She's driven by her hormones to do it.

You aren't going to get any eggs from her for a month or more. Breaking her will restore her to laying again in a week or so.

On the other hand, allowing her to have her broody spell may cure her of wanting to be broody again. It's been my experience that you can break a broody, but the persistent ones will just go broody again every month until you let them do a broody stint.

It's your call. But if you let her stay broody, watch her weight. In rare occurrences, hens have died sitting on a nest for too long.

Quote:

Originally Posted by azygous 

You want to weigh the benefits and liabilities of letting the hen brood or breaking her.

 

Some of the problems a broody might encounter are severe weight loss and lack of nutrition. Also, it will be three weeks of feeling very irritable - sort of like hen PMS. She isn't sitting on a nest because she enjoys it. She's driven by her hormones to do it.

 

You aren't going to get any eggs from her for a month or more. Breaking her will restore her to laying again in a week or so.

 

On the other hand, allowing her to have her broody spell may cure her of wanting to be broody again. It's been my experience that you can break a broody, but the persistent ones will just go broody again every month until you let them do a broody stint.

 

It's your call. But if you let her stay broody, watch her weight. In rare occurrences, hens have died sitting on a nest for too long.

Hmmm, my experience has never been any ill affects from a broody and I have had several, over the years, that have set for more than 2 months on no eggs. They enter a trance like state and require less food, water, and even excercize. They leave the nest when needed for elimination and eat/drink then, usually once a day, but not always. They do lose a bit of weight during that time, but gain it right back within a week or so. Never had to break one, but that's because I just deal with the lack of eggs. It's only one hen, unless half of them set at one time. I've read, like azygous, about hens dying from it, but I've never seen it and have mostly written it off as paranoia on the part of people speculating and worrying about what "could" happen. I'm willing to change my views if anyone can say truthfully that it actually happened to their hen, or two, and I'll take their word for it, but til then, I don't believe it as my hens have always been healthy enough after extended broodiness. Now, I didn't start raising chickens a year ago, or even 10 years ago. It will soon be 55 years since my first flock. I'm still learning, too, so lay it on me.......Pop

Having a broody come close to dying from sitting too long on a (empty) nest happened to me. She was my first broody ever. I had no idea what was going on at the time. She was on the nest for well over a month, and she lost so much weight it was scary. 

She refused to eat, and it got worse and worse. I finally hauled her out and began feeding her chicken soup, and she began to put on weight and got stronger, then finally returned to normal behavior. 

I know it's rare, but it does happen. Broody hens should be watched.

Just because it's not raining where you are doesn't mean it's not raining someplace else.

OK, point taken. Must be a good idea to watch them. Guess I just always have watched them. Good practice, whether broody or not........Pop

Pop, this happened to my friend Mary:

http://www.bucknrunranch.com/blog/2011/11/04/mayhem-period/

Interresting. Funny how chicken experiences run the gammut from mild to wild. The only thing for sure is that nothing is for sure. Guess my true life experiences have always been positive with broodies. Never believed anything like that could happen. One thing I have to kling to is that it is very rare. Thanks for posting this info...........Pop