broke the broody but now eggless

[dawnfran]

Hey ya'll!

So Easter weekend one of my ladies decided to go broody on me; the next day one of her sisters decided to jump in the nest box and join her. We no longer have a rooster so I got them both off the nest, gave them a cool dunk and locked them out of the loft area (where the nest box is). By day four of not getting access to the loft they gave up casing the coop and were back to normal...or so it seemed. But it's been over two weeks now since they have laid.

They will occasionally go into the loft or peek in, but always come right back out (almost as if it brings back bad memories). Their combs and wattles are nice and red, they are eating plenty of layer feed, oyster shell and way too many treats I'm sure. They have been very loud lately, as if looking for a good new spot to lay, which I have supplied other boxes for them but they just don't seem good enough for these ladies.

Any thoughts on this? I've read a lot of folks say the broodiness is broken within a 4-7 days or when they lay an egg. Anyone break a broody but still no eggs?

Any comments are helpful as I haven't found much about this type of situation. Oh chickens.

Thanks!!
dawn

 

[twunker]

I have had the same experience. Most of the time they will lay soon after you break them, but sometimes they will not. I have learned from experience that sometimes they don't lay for a while. Up to a month for me. It is annoying, but it happens. You just have to wait. Unless they look sick, they are probably fine.