Broody hen- going on 5.5 weeks

[Chold05]

Hey friends!
I have a 2.5 year old Maran. She went broody for the first time last year, and I tried to intervene. But this year, I havent done anything except take her out once a day to make sure she eats. She has been broody for 5.5 weeks and doesnt appear to be giving up anytime soon. It started on June 5th!

From what I've read, they're only supposed to be broody for 21 days?
Is it normal for them to be broody for this long?

 

[cherrynberry]

From what I've read, they're only supposed to be broody for 21 days?

Wrong, you need to break her herself. You can probably do a site search to view threads talking about breaking broody hens. Personally I recommend keeping her in a dog crate for a few days, that usually does the trick in a matter of days. Broody hens can and will sit until they die, if allowed. I assume you got 21 days since the incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days. It is true that if you let a hen hatch eggs they will usually self break themselves once the chicks hatch, granted they need to leave the nest to take care of the chicks. However, because she has already been brooding for 5.5 weeks, I would break her ASAP.

 

[Chold05]

Wrong, you need to break her herself. You can probably do a site search to view threads talking about breaking broody hens. Personally I recommend keeping her in a dog crate for a few days, that usually does the trick in a matter of days. Broody hens can and will sit until they die, if allowed. I assume you got 21 days since the incubation period for chicken eggs is 21 days. It is true that if you let a hen hatch eggs they will usually self break themselves once the chicks hatch, granted they need to leave the nest to take care of the chicks. However, because she has already been brooding for 5.5 weeks, I would break her ASAP.

Oh shucks! I wish I would have started to break her sooner! I put her in the dog crate today so hopefully that resolves the issue! Thank you for the tip!

 

[TillyPeeps]

Oh shucks! I wish I would have started to break her sooner! I put her in the dog crate today so hopefully that resolves the issue! Thank you for the tip!

I had a silkie mix that went broody for 8 weeks! I tried to take her to roost every night, and it didn't work. I finally used the dog cage method, it broke her broodiness in 3 days. She actually went broody every month, and I always broke her with the broody cage in 4 days.