Broody hens...help

[janbosjones]

I have 8 hens. One of my Americaunas started sitting in one of the nesting boxes 24/7. Shes not laying any eggs and I force her off daily collect any other eggs that may be under her. And now my 2 buffs have joined her and they seem to be following her lead and not wanting to leave the same nesting box. They cram in there together and after removing the nesting boxes they still huddle together. (See pic) I'm not collecting near as many eggs. And I've witnessed 2 hen fights. Are they affecting/preventing the other hens egg production? Please help!!!

 

[N F C]

Hi, welcome to BYC!

We had our first experience with a broody girl about a month ago. Since we didn't have any fertile eggs, we needed her to stop brooding and get back to the egg-laying business (they don't lay while they are brooding). I found this thread here on BYC and it was so helpful:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/181289/how-to-break-a-broody-hen

All those extra hormones do seem to create tension, our girl was a real grouch and the other chickens didn't seem too happy with her attitude. Once I tried the broody buster method outlined in that thread, she got over it quickly and things went back to normal.

Hope this helps.

 

[BantamFan4Life]

Welcome to BYC! I'm glad you joined us!

 

[drumstick diva]

Northflchick gave you good advice. Broodiness does seem to be catching. A lot of byc friends on here seem to have several that do it about the same time. It's best to have them separated by wire or ???. Broodies may seem to do well together but, often after chicks hatch, they will fight over them and end up killing some as a result. Some breeds are more likely to go broody often: silkies, cochins, Buff Orps among others.

 

[Yorkshire Coop]

Hi

Glad you could join the flock! NorthFLChick and drumstick have left you some great advice and an excellent link to check out so I will just "Welcome"

Wishing you the very best of luck breaking your girls and getting them back to egg laying.

Enjoy BYC and all the chicken chat

 

[nj2wv]

welcome to BYC !!