Help! I have SUPER broody 2 year old Australorp who did not eat/drink well today. I have had her seperated and in a wire dog kennel set up on two milk crates with food and water for 8 days now. The bars are spaced fairly widely, so I put 1/4 inch hardware cloth for her to sit on. At night I am putting her on the roosting bar with the others in the coop. Every morning I find her sitting right next to the nest boxes (which I block off at night) sitting on nothing. Until now it has only been a pain to deal with, but now I'm a little worried since I returned home to find not much food/water gone, and very little stool under her cage. What am I doing wrong? Is the 1/4 hardware cloth too comfortable for her feet? Should I not be putting her in the coop to roost at night? Should I worry that she could become sick with dehydration? I only have 3 hens (no roosters) and I need them to be good layers. She started going broody already once this spring, but I broke her within the first 48 hours of showing any signs, and she resumed laying in about a week. This time, I noticed her being moody for a few weeks leading up to this, but the fist day I found her sitting on the eggs past sunset, I had the broody cage waiting for her the next morning. And now it's been 8 days of full on growling, puffing up and sitting on nothing Last summer (the first time it happened) I broke her in a bout three days, but she didn't start laying again for about three weeks post. What else can I try? Short of getting out the stockpot, I mean...
