Do I have to "break" a broody or will she get over it on her own?

[iheartnh]

I have an 8 month old buff Orpington who seems to be going broody. She's been fluffed out for a few days, and yesterday spent all day in a lay box on a couple of eggs. She stayed on after the other ladies went to roost, and I had to remove her - she wasn't happy at all - late last night so I could collect the eggs that were under her. I do think she intended to sleep there. After I pulled her out of the box, she sat on the floor of the coop all puffed out like a blowfish - she looked like a puddle of chicken. I moved her to the Loser Bar (our lower roost, which only gets used when someone has stepped out of line and gets busted down by the top birds). When I went out 30 minutes later to check, she had moved up to the top roost. This morning, she left the coop to scratch around when I let them out at 6:30, but when I went back out an hour later to fill the waterer, she was back in the same lay box (now empty).

I left her there til noon, and then pulled her out because I needed to clean the coop. I checked her for signs of binding, but don't notice anything odd and she doesn't seem stressed (other than getting ticked when I approach her in the box). As soon as I was done and opened the coop back up, she hustled right back to the box.

We have no rooster, and aren't really interested in obtaining fertile eggs this time of year. Will she get over it on her own, or should I separate her and use the wire-crate method to break her?

 

[appps]

Sounds broodie to me. They are funny how they just there as a chicken puddle as you so nicely put it lol when you move them. The kids like that as it means they can give them a bit of a scratch for one before their little brains kick in and they start moving again lol

She wont stop on her own I wouldnt think and she will also more than likely annoy the others trying to use the nesting box. I sometimes get eggs on the coop floor when I have the top hen broody as nobody else is brave enough to go in there LOL

I actually do it without crates by just making it impossible for them to spend any time on the nesting box for approx 3 days 24 hrs a day. I have a little bit of the run sectioned off so she cant get to it but can still wander around and I close it up when the others are done for the day and let her back in with them but the cage method would work just as well from what I read though to me that is still sitting somewhere and thats sort of opposite of what I want mine to do. I want them to wander round and forget about sitting. .


On my own home front I am just about ready to scream. One has gone back to normal so of course I have a new one spent most of yesterday in there and was first in the box today. ARGH!!!!! will it never end LOL

 

[iheartnh]

Yeah, unless you want to expand your flock exponentially, I can see how this behavior would get really old, really fast. Thanks for the input! I guess I'll dig out our old dog crate and find her spot to cool her buns for a couple of days.