Broody question

[Beckyinva]

I have broody hen with no roosters. I sincerely want to know what is wrong with letting her stay broody w/o eggs. I have oral vitamins I can give her. Won't she come out of it on her own? Since it is part of nature...how would it harm her?

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

I had one die after brooding several months. I tried to break her twice but didn't give it the full week like they say and only kept her in the cage for a day or two. She went right back to brooding and one day I found her dead. She had gotten too skinny/tired I guess. Broke my heart.

Best to break her- you want her to not have a nest to sit on- you can put her in a crate/kennel/cage preferably with a wire bottom or no fluffy bedding preferably.

Some people buy hatching eggs to give their broodies, but they can just go broody again (or better yet, another hen will go broody on you after you have one sitting on eggs). So it is good to have an exit strategy for broodies.

 

[silkiecuddles]

If she is sitting on nothing/unfertile eggs, then she's wasting her energy, breast feathers, and your daily eggs. You need to get her up. Lock her out of the coop, put ice cubes under her, block the nest boxes.