Broody Hens?

[Georgeschicks]

Hi all!
I have two Ameraucana(??) hens who are about 9 months old and they sit in the nesting boxes ALL DAY on top of some golf balls and existing eggs. This morning gene we moved them out of the boxes they just sat down and still wouldn’t move. Is there something wrong with them, or is this just broody behavior? If they are just broody how do you stop this.
Thanks!

 

[Ridgerunner]

That sounds like broody behavior. Where do they spend the night, on the nest or in their regular roosting area? There are several indications that they might be broody but my real test is that if they spend two consecutive nights on the nest they are broody enough to give eggs. When you move a broody from her nest she normally stays in that spot a bit like you described. Then she either goes back to her nest or gets some food and water, goes poo, and maybe takes a dust bath before she goes back to the nest. When she is walking around she acts like a mad turkey, all fluffed up and making a constant pucking sound. These are all signs she might be but I've had some that showed a lot of those signs but did not spend nights on the nest so they did not deserve eggs to hatch.

The way I break a broody is to put them in a raised cage with a wire floor for 72 hours or so. That's usually enough but occasionally I have to repeat. Give them food and water but nothing that looks like a nest. The wire floor cools their bottom which helps. I built a special broody buster but a lot of people use the wire dog cages, not the plastic dog crates. You can hang them from the ceiling or put them up on a couple of boards.