Mary,
I have a similar problem. I've tried to break my broody hen by cooping her up, but she just goes right back to being broody. I read online that 4 days should break them of the habit, but it only works for a short time for my hen, and she goes right back to being broody. Problem is, old eggs are under the house and she goes under there and thinks they are new and won't come out, and I can't get
The last 2 days I've placed a saucer of water and sprinkled food near the narrow opening by where I think her nest is. I've seen her beak and heard her make a few soft clucking noises those past 2 days, but today I haven't seen or heard a thing and the food and water doesn't seem to have been touched.
I am worried. How long would it take for a broody chicken to starve to death?
I have read that you shouldn't put food and water near their nest because they'll foul the nest and they need to get off it for exercise or their joints will go bad. But she was not coming out at all and I felt it was important for her to get some nourishment.
I can't get under the house. There is no way to do so without tearing up the structure, and it is actually my neighbor's house, though I share a part of it.
Do you think she might be dead? The eggs are unfertilized. I had tried to get fencing around the bottom of the house, but the neighbor decided he didn't want it. So now there is nothing I can do. He's away for another week on vacation, and I'm afraid he'll come home to the smell of a dead chicken under his living roo
Does anyone know what percentage of broody hens die of starvation on the nest? She is a Plymouth Barred Rock, 15 months old.
Clare
