Broody Copper Marans for 9 weeks now!

[CarolinaCdM]

My broody Marans began being broody nine+ weeks ago. I had fertilized eggs shipped to me since I felt sorry for her. That was 22 days ago, and no signs of chicks (I think bad packaging had something to do with it). When will she stop? Should I take the unhatched eggs from her? Will my lovely sweet hen hate me forever?!

Thanks for any advice.

 

[Judy]

You could candle the eggs, or give them another day or two. Then I would definitely work on breaking her of the broodiness some other way. That is an awfully long time. If you don't have a cage, like a dog crate, you may have to break down and make or buy something. You can also try confining her to a concrete floor with no bedding; the coolness may work. Here's an article on the subject, in case it will help.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/encouraging-or-discouraging-broodiness-in-your-hens

 

[CarolinaCdM]

THANK you Judy!

 

[ShockValue]

I just had to build one for my girl last night. Didn't want to spend a bunch of money on a "nice" crate, so I made my own out of hardware cloth and 2x2s that I had laying around.

She's only been in about 15 hours, so I dunno if it will work yet. But she's not complaining TOO much about being in there.

 

[Judy]

Good -- hopefully the complaining is a sign the broodiness is breaking up.

 

[mrsc1951]

The only one of my hens to ever go broody is my little bantam easter egger and about every six months, she's broody. Since I don't have a rooster and am not interested in raising chicks, I just take the eggs away from her. After two or three days, she's usually over it.

 

[CarolinaCdM]

I ended up putting ice packs in all three of the nesting boxes over night to discourage any more broodiness then removed them the next morning so the other girls could lay eggs in their regular spots. It took two nights of that to get our Marans to give up and start acting like a foraging hen again! (Let me tell you, she was NOT amused by the cold beds.)