Broody with no eggs?

Walkinginpoop

Hatching
5 Years
Jul 23, 2014
2
0
7
My large brown layer has refused to come out, will sit on another hens egg - she hasn't laid one in two days. Will she stop on her own?
 
Determined broodys will brood nothing, sometimes for months, if you want her to stop you might as well break her of being broody so she gets back to laying sooner, there is a good article in the Learning Center on broody hens https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/encouraging-or-discouraging-broodiness-in-your-hens hens I like using a separate cage, it usually works really well. I usually just use a wire dog crate, size doesn't really matter, the bottom wire spacing is usually around 1x4"... you want it really uncomfortable for her to stand/sit on. I put a couple of perches in there and hang small food/water dishes on the sides so they can't stand or sit in them. Put the crate out in the open, I prefer to put them in the middle of the barn aisle or coop so there is a lot of activity and light... you want the hen to be bothered. They don't like to walk on the wire so they spend pretty much all the time on the perches, that works pretty well for most of them. I've never tried it, but some people have mentioned putting a small fan under them to cool them off even more.
 
Thank you, she seems pretty determined. She's a large brown chicken, lays a light greenish or blueish egg, is maybe 2 years old, we've only had her a few months.
 

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