Broody hen

[KnitswithChickens]

I have put out a call for a wire bottomed cage to friends in order to break my broody hen, but in the meantime, I wanted to know if being broody for 4 weeks is normal? I don't have a rooster, so no fertilized eggs. Is my hen just stubborn, or is this length of time normal. She's still laying every other day and I just relieve her of the egg since it's the only one I'm getting as my other hen can't get into the nesting box to lay

 

[Judy]

Quite normal. If no chicks hatch, it's not unusual at all for them to stay broody longer than the 3 weeks hatching would take. It's controlled by hormones.

 

[fiddleblue]

I try to break my hens of broody habits by taking them off the nest when they brood and putting them "in isolation", in a separate enclosure where there is no nest for them to sit on. It usually takes 3-4 days of being kept in isolation and then they stop brooding when I put them back they are fine. (BUt sometimes they might start brooding again a few weeks later....)