2 hens gone broody - can I just let them be?

[lonelychicken]

I have 2 cochin girls that have gone broody - in the past the one i have put Ella in chicken solitary / in a wire crate for 5 days and that sorts her our for quite a while. now Rhiana has also gone broody, we are having temperatures well below freezing at night and I think it would be dangerous to put them in solitary.

Will it hurt them if i just let them set until they figure it out?

how long do they usually set on the nest when they go broody?

I know couchins tend to do this - and i am ok with that as we are getting enough eggs for us, i just want to be sure that they will at some point stop on their own and start laying again.

Thanks

 

[donrae]

They'll probably set for 3-4 weeks before they give up.

One thing to consider about the temps--if they're broody, they're sitting on a nest all by themselves, not huddled with other chickens, so I'm not sure it would be much different in solitary. Brooding is hard on their bodies so I'd try to break them if possible.

 

[LukensFarms]

I just add a ton of feathers to the box and they stay warm. Let them do what they want. Then you know they are happy.

 

[WalkingOnSunshine]

They'll probably set for 3-4 weeks before they give up.

One thing to consider about the temps--if they're broody, they're sitting on a nest all by themselves, not huddled with other chickens, so I'm not sure it would be much different in solitary. Brooding is hard on their bodies so I'd try to break them if possible.

I agree with donrae.

Also, with the low temps, your birds need full crops to stay warm. Broodies often don't eat much and lose weight while they're brooding, so that's another layer of stress added to the cold. Why not put the two girls together in one wire-bottomed cage? You can break them and give them a little warmth at the same time.