Broody for ~5 weeks?!?!?!?

[My4Hens]

Hey everyone! I'm newly registered, but have been reading the Forum for awhile. I just got 4 hens for the first time in September and one of them loves brooding! We have no roosters, so the eggs aren't fertile and I don't want to be hatching any chicks anyway! ... so here are my questions (because everything I seem to have read on the forum about broody hens tells you how to set them up for actually hatching chicks)

She did it for awhile back in October (or November?). I put her in a dog crate alone for a few days (~5 days) until she "broke" it. Now she has been broody again for the past ~5 WEEKS. She doesn't get too aggressive, the other 3 are still able to share the nest box to lay (I only have one box) and I am able to pick her up. I go out there every day and take the 2-3 eggs out from under her. I didn't try very hard to break her this time around because: 1) she sits on the eggs and this way I never have to worry about one freezing! and 2) the logistics of this happening in the middle of winter in wisconsin are hard because i wouldn't be able to keep her water thawed in the dog crate (I only have the one large water heater for the coop) and she would never get the benefit of the warmth from the light bulb that is on for a few hours each night. So, I thought I would wait out the 21 day period and see if she just all of a sudden "thought" she hatched the eggs and stopped. No such luck.

Is this safe/healthy for her?
Any tips on how to get her to stop? (I've tried taking her out and plopping her behind in the snow - didn't work!)

Thanks!

 

[Three Cedars Silkies]

I can be a problem, that's for sure. There are lots of recommendations on BYC from folks on how to "break a brood". Probably the best one wouldn't work for you right now in the weather.

Since I'm in Florida, I'm going to do this tomorrow on my broody silkie hen.

Use a wire cage (could be a dog crate with hardware cloth/wire in the bottom) and put the broody hen in it with food and water. Hang it a couple of feet off the ground and leave her in it for a couple of days. The circulating air cools off her booty and can help stop the circulating hormones that cause broodiness.

With your weather, you may just have to grin and bear it until. I did finally give fertile eggs to this same broody hen last fall because she was broody for nine weeks. We made her go out everyday for a while and she would eat and drink...then get right back on the nest. I covered up the nesting box and she just brooded in the shavings.

all catatonic.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

There's been lots of discussion on this topic, check out https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=181289 to begin. Some hens are more determined to stay broody than others, but this is the best way I know, to give them some time with nice cool airflow up underneath them. I don't think it really harms them to stay broody for weeks, they don't eat, drink or poop as much, but neither do they expend as much energy. Still, I think it's best for them to either be working on a hatch or going back to their regular scheduled programming. I wish you great success!

 

[My4Hens]

Thanks for the link --- it sounds like the dog crate idea really is the best, I'd just have to assure her thawed water. Maybe if I get a couple of slow/short days at work I'll see if I can dedicate some time to this.
And thanks for clarifying why the cold needs to circulate underneath them! I had heard about dropping their bottom end in the snow to break them, I thought it was just to "wake them up" or give them a little shock, I didn't realize there was a real biological thing going on!