Broody and egg laying

[cjwilson]

I have two chickens who free range during the day. Both were laying eggs almost daily. Then one decided to go broody. She stopped laying eggs and stayed in the nesting box all day. I don't have any kind of cage to put her in to try to cure the brooding so I have just been pushing her out of the nesting box whenever I can and hope she snaps out of it. My problem is that now my other chicken has stopped laying eggs! She isn't brooding, she just hasn't laid an egg for five days. Any suggestions?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She may have found a favorite bush to lay her eggs in since the other bird was occupying the nest. I've used ice in the nest as a last resort.

 

[cjwilson]

I actually have three nesting boxes and I find her in different boxes. I have checked the yard but no eggs. Can they just stop laying whenever they want to?

 

[A Chicken Owner]

Many years ago, I thought one of my hens had stopped laying but I ended up finding 20 of her eggs in the neighbor's yard so maybe she hasn't stopped laying.

 

[cjwilson]

How long does it take for a broody hen to start laying eggs again?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I'm guessing about a month, give or take.

 

[ll]

Your non-broody hen may be stressed from all the fuss.

Give the broody hen a nice low sided box to sit in on the floor somewhere so she stays out of the main nestbox. Then your non-broody can get back to work and broody can sit it out.