Brooding hen?

[rjfoster03]

I have a young Wyandotte that lays her eggs in a place outside the nesting box. Two days ago she was squatting in the area that she lays her eggs. I picked her up and saw that she was sitting on an egg. I'm assuming that she is brooding since she has been squatting for so long, acts protective when other hens come over, etc... I did remove the egg from under her.

She eats when I bring food to her and was cruising around with the other hens today. But later, she was back on her brooding area.

So is this something that she will get tired of when she realizes that she does not have an egg to sit on? Would it be best to make her warm area a little less warm?

Any help/thoughts are appreciated.

 

[CMV]

I have a GLW that is chronically broody and has been for 3 out of her 3.5 years of life. If you do not want your bird to be broody then I would recommend the wire bottomed cage method of breaking. I have tried all the methods known to break mine, but this year I just gave up and let it run its course. She broke when she started her fall molt. Some birds are born to be broody and no matter what you do they will continually revert to the brood state. Try putting yours in a wire bottomed cage with no bedding for a few days. The cool air circulating around their nether regions breaks the cycle. If she heads directly back to the nesting box when you reintroduce her to her coop, then put her back in the cage for another day. Rinse and repeat until she stops going to the nesting boxes. Make sure you collect eggs as often as possible- something about the sight of multiple eggs seems to trigger the broody thing. She may be able to be broken this year as it is so late in the season, but it has been my observation that truly broody hens just keep going broody regardless of how often you break them. It is not a healthy state for them to maintain in the long run, so if you are uninterested in hatching then it is in their best interest to be broken. A chronic broody is prone to health problems as I know from first hand experience.

Good luck.

 

[PunkinPeep]

CMV is right. A broody hen will not be broken just for lack of eggs. Pine shavings and rocks will do just fine - or nothing at all. I like to let mine brood as much as i can, but i have had to break them from time to time. But it's almost always a temporary fix.