8 month old hen broody for weeks but not laying

[catfalls]

we raised 7 hens from day-old chicks. All are laying except one, our partridge cochin. She's been glued to the nesting box for at least two months now, but as far as I know she's never laid an egg, nor is she sitting on other eggs. She's not egg bound, but I've read about false layers, whose bodies reabsorb eggs. I wonder if this might be the case or if anyone has any other thoughts on what is going on with her.

I get her out of the nesting box in the morning when I feed them mash, and again a couple of times during the day and put her out to free-range with the rest of the flock. But it's not long before she heads back to the box to sit until I get her out again.

 

[nuthatched]

Hens don't lay while they're broody and they don't care if there's eggs to sit on or not.
Its a matter of hormones.
You need to break her broodiness, try sticking her in a floor less dog kennel with only a roost, Food and water for awhile.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Yes like a dog crate with a wire mesh bottom set on blocks so it has air flow underneath her to cool off her underside. If it comes with a solid plastic tray for cleaning, remove it. Good luck!

 

[catfalls]

Breaks my heart to put her in a cage, she's such a sweetie, but I am willing to try it to break her broodiness. I've kept chickens for 16 years and had broody hens before, but never had a broody non-laying pullet.

 

[nuthatched]

Breaks my heart to put her in a cage, she's such a sweetie, but I am willing to try it to break her broodiness. I've kept chickens for 16 years and had broody hens before, but never had a broody non-laying pullet.

It's for her own good, being broody this long will kill her since it drains her.

 

[BDutch]

Breaks my heart to put her in a cage, she's such a sweetie, but I am willing to try it to break her broodiness. I've kept chickens for 16 years and had broody hens before, but never had a broody non-laying pullet.

Are you sure she is broody?

I had a pullet who was harassed at roost time by the adult hens and she went to sleep in a nestbox because of that. I tried to get her on the roost after dark for quite some time. But she only got afraid of me because of that.
When I let her be, she started to roost in the tiny coop where the nestboxes are. Away from the others eho sleep in an added coop-extension. She still prefers to sleep there alone.

Maybe she is traumatised and just seeks a safe place to be/to sleep?
How is her behaviour during the day? Does she have feathers on her belly?

 

[aart]

had broody hens before, never had a broody non-laying pullet.

Confused.
Surely you know that broodies don't lay while brooding.
You mean this pullet had not started laying yet?

This is how I break them:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

 

[catfalls]

Confused.
Surely you know that broodies don't lay while brooding.
You mean this pullet had not started laying yet?

This is how I break them:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

hens will continue to lay until they have a clutch. She has not laid in the weeks she has been broody in the empty nest box.

 

[catfalls]

I could not bring myself to put her in a cage, as a few have suggested. I decided to put several 4-6" rocks in all of the large nesting boxes (she's a big girl) Wednesday afternoon before I left town for Thanksgiving. She immediately moved onto one of the roosts, then joined the flock and has acted like a "normal" hen since then. I'll remove the rocks tomorrow and hope that I've broken her broodiness. I will continue to watch her to see if I can identify whether or not she is laying.

 

[rosemarythyme]

hens will continue to lay until they have a clutch. She has not laid in the weeks she has been broody in the empty nest box.

Some hens will brood on absolutely nothing at all, even empty air. The clutch doesn't have to be theirs or even physically present, if they're convinced they should sit anyhow.

I could not bring myself to put her in a cage, as a few have suggested. I decided to put several 4-6" rocks in all of the large nesting boxes (she's a big girl) Wednesday afternoon before I left town for Thanksgiving. She immediately moved onto one of the roosts, then joined the flock and has acted like a "normal" hen since then. I'll remove the rocks tomorrow and hope that I've broken her broodiness. I will continue to watch her to see if I can identify whether or not she is laying.

Glad that worked but not sure how the other birds are supposed to lay, unless you're saying only she needs the large boxes? Hopefully it was enough disruption to stick.

A cage really isn't a form of torture - it disrupts them from the nest (which is what you were doing with the rocks) and if you have it elevated it allows for cooler air to get under them to cool off their bellies. To me it's worse having them sit for weeks losing body condition without anything to show for their efforts.