Broody hen and missing eggs

[BettyD]

We're new to this chicken business but thoroughly enjoying it . We have a Sussex that has gone broody. She has been in a box for 2-3 days now and we have not seen her come out. We're going to let her continue. However, where we were getting 4-6 eggs a day, now we're only getting one. All the hens were laying eggs in one of two boxes. The box she's in, got the most eggs usually 3-4 a day of both white and brown. We have 6 hens. What's happening with the rest of the hens/eggs? The first picture is the two nest boxes the chickens use. The second is the one where we get our 1 egg a day now. The last picture is of the Sussex in the cardboard box. And yes, we have a rooster.

 

[BoundlessLove]

I’d try to move her. Especially since this is where your hens like to lay their eggs.

 

[Debbie292d]

When hens go broody, they stop laying eggs.

If you can't move her so the other hens don't lay on her nest, I'd get all the eggs you want her sitting on and mark them on both ends with a pencil or sharpie (both are safe).

That way you can take the eggs out that the others are laying in her nest. If you do not do this, you will have eggs hatching staggered, and the latter ones will die unless you have an incubator. Hens know their babies have to get to food/water, and the rest of the eggs will be abandoned.