Broodiness

[Jule70]

Hi,
We have got two bantams who just won’t stop to be broody. They have not laid an egg in over 3 months and they keep sitting in the egg boxes, on the other chickens eggs or just somewhere in the garden. We have tried to ride it out at first. Then we have tried removing them and closing the coop - but they will just find another place to ‘sit’ - anywhere in the run or garden. How long does this behaviour last…? The third -nonbroody - chicken is very lonely…
What else can we do?

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you don't want them to hatch you should be breaking them immediately in a breaker cage once broodiness is confirmed - https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/ . Longer you wait, the tougher it usually gets. Some breeds are notorious brooders, like Silkies, and may be tough to break anyhow.

If these two have been sitting continuously for months, you may need to upset them further by moving the breaker cage out of their area for a couple of days, putting cool water bottles under them, etc.