Broody without eggs?

[LibbyRossk]

Help, I'm newish! My first post was about a 5 month old golden phoenix (Marlena) that started sneaking into the house and laying her egg behind my computer. (Really!) It was cute but when I finished their permanent coop last month they all transitioned to it, then after a week or so I started letting them free range for a few hours in the afternoon. Marlena adjusted well at first, but now every time I accidentally leave the door open she's there, wants to stay there forever, and if I move her outside she stays squat. I assume she's gone broody, but she has stopped laying so I don't get it. My other hens are still laying. Is she okay? What can I do for her?

 

[junebuggena]

Broody hens don't lay eggs. It's nature's way of ensuring that all the eggs hatch within the same time frame. Broody hens will sit on a nest all day and night.

 

[Latestarter]

You need to find a way to cool down her stomach/belly/chest area to "break" her broodyness. Most folks build a small cage like one of those pet crates/carry-alls with a wire bottom and put her in there, up off the ground, for up to a week so that she can't keep her undersides warm. This tends to break the brooding cycle. Once a hen has gone broody once, you can pretty much expect it to happen again. This is good if you ever want to hatch eggs. A good broody hen will outdo just about any incubator and you don't have to do any work!

https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/broody-breaker-questions.943224/

 

[aart]

You'll need to decide if you want her to hatch out some chicks, and how you will 'manage' it.

Do you have, or can you get, some fertile eggs?

Do you have the space needed? She may need to be separated by wire from the rest of the flock.

Do you have a plan on what to do with the inevitable males? Rehome, butcher, keep in separate 'bachelor pad'?

If you decide to let her hatch out some fertile eggs, this is a great thread for reference and to ask questions.

It a long one but just start reading the first few pages, then browse thru some more at random.

http://www.backyardchickens.com/t/496101/broody-hen-thread


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop with fed and water

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Feed and water added after pic was taken.