Broody Hen how long? For eggsgalore

[Barnyard Dawg]

One of our hens is going broody, she just whats to sit on eggs, she not quite a year old, she doesn't eat or isn't laying eggs currently, she seem to be getting thinner, how long does this go on with chickens you have had, this is the first one and it look like another is going broody.
Saw your post eggsgalore here is a previous post of mine with some suggestion that worked for me by Chirpy.

 

[Chirpy]

I've heard on here that some broodies will sit for up to two months (I think someone had one that sat for over three months?) before giving it up. That's hard on the broody. Do you want her to hatch eggs? If so, get some fertile eggs under her as soon as possible and let her do her thing.

If you don't want her to sit on eggs then I'd try to break her of being broody. There are several ideas that people try but the one that I've heard has the greatest success is to put her in a wire cage (like a dog crate) with NO bedding. Just give her food and water and let her be for a few days. Usually (that's the key word here), she will snap out of it and stop being broody after a few days or a week in there. If that doesn't work ????

 

[dustbath]

When I was unable to break one of my hens of broodiness, the local cooperative extension advised me to give her some fake eggs to sit on. The idea was that when they didn't hatch, she would give up. She sat on them from July 4 to Columbus Day!!!

 

[papadekaitlyn]

I remember reading somewhere that someone placed water and feed in the box with a hen that was setting.

Typically when hens go broody they don't completely stop eating or drinking do they? Seems like they wouldn't last a week much less 28 days without drinking...

I'm a newbie to chickens myself, so I am definately not speaking from experience... In fact I am kinda interested to know how people generally deal with hens that are setting and what I read before was correct or if the way your broody hen is acting is abnormal...

Hmmm.....

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Quote:
Our hen eats very little she doesn't seem that interested in food, she will eat grass, but it seems like mostly she wants to sit in the nesting box with eggs or without. Last night she was sitting and dust bathing, our rooster is only two and a half months so we don't have any fertile eggs. We have another on that appears to be going broody, never before had we experience this she is a Delaware.

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Quote:
I put my hen in a chicken holding pen with water and some food, hoping she will come out of her broodiness, yesterday was the first day, I'll give it a try to see if it works. Thanks!

 

[c.wilson]

a hen of mine went brrody for 5 months. i felt so sorry for her she tried so hard but i cant hatch anymore until i expand my coop.

 

[Davaroo]

c.wilson :

a hen of mine went brrody for 5 months. i felt so sorry for her she tried so hard but i cant hatch anymore until i expand my coop.

I had a hen that stayed broody. I cant recall when she wasnt. I ended up rehoming her to a lady, and she told me the same thing - the hen never left the nest.​

 

[Barnyard Dawg]

Quote:
I put my hen in a chicken holding pen with water and some food, hoping she will come out of her broodiness, yesterday was the first day, I'll give it a try to see if it works. Thanks!

I gave her 4 days in the pen with water and food, she seem to get her appetite back, so on the 5th day I released her back with the flock and her broodiness has left her, she is feeding with the rest of the flock I still haven't noticed if she has layed an egg yet. I also heard of another technique where when they start to sit you take them a drop their rear end in a bucket of water? but the isolation technique work for me.

 

[Chirpy]

Barnyard Dawg wrote:

but the isolation technique work for me.

That was good feedback to hear. And, that it took four days. Let us know if she goes back to being broody soon and/or when she lays her first egg (if you are able to tell).

Thanks.​