Broody mamma....going on 5 weeks!

[blueberrychickens]

My GLW has been broody sine the beginning of Jan, so working on 5 weeks. I have tried to break her of the broodieness but short of completely separating her from the flock & putting her in a wire bottom cage (which I don't have) I'm at a loss of what to do next. I've tried pushing her off the nest, blocking off the nest box @ night w/ a curtain stapled to the wall, which she figured out how to still get into the nest box. I put up a piece of cardboard so she couldn't get in @ night, & somehow she pulls it down & I find her in the box in the am. She is one smart chicken!! If it was just a bit warmer, I'd get some fertile eggs for her to sit on & try to hatch, but I still have sooooo much snow on the ground, I'd be afraid that babies wouldn't make it, & I'm also worried that if I did get fertile eggs for her, that she'd decide to not be broody anymore since she's been at it for 5 weeks now. Is there an end in sight for this broody madness??? I thought she would stop around day 21, but she's still going strong! If I let her hatch eggs, what do I do w/ the babies?? I only have room for a few more chickens & DH says no more chickens till next yr. Do I have to be NPIP to sell them???

Oh & 1 more question, after a broody decided to not be broody anymore, how long before she starts to lay eggs again???

 

[SamuelMcF]

Some are just super persistent. If you did get fertile eggs they would be fine until they hatched and then you'd have to keep a very close eye on them to make sure they won't day. You could always seperate them later. You don't have to be NPIP unless you are shipping out of state. You could sell them locally no problem. I have one right now that I haven't seperated and given anything and its been over two months. Every night I take her off and take the eggs and then the next day she is on them as soon as the hens have layed for the day. You could always raise the babies for butcher if you couldn't find anyone to sell them to. You could give them away also. If you don't have a cage i'm not sure how else to break her out of it. I usually just wait and eventually they quit.

 

[blueberrychickens]

any other ideas out there???

 

[nuttyredhead]

Quote:
Awww give the poor girl some eggs!!!

My broody just hatched 6 chicks on tuesday, it has been cold, down to 22 in the coop and no heat!

 

[blueberrychickens]

I want to but my DH is being adamant about no new chickens this year, he wants to wait till the ones we have are 2 yrs old before we add to the flock. I am almost ready to give her to a friend who has a roo so she can be a mommy.