Chicken in egg box for 2+ weeks

[KristenL0522]

I moved into my home about 3 years ago. Shortly after I had some chickens come around. I started feeding them and they started roosting in my trees. I unfortunately lost one last year to a hawk. Now there are 2. They used to lay eggs in the saw grass but my dad was nice and made me a few nest boxes that are just on my porch that they have begun to lay in there. They free roam and I can’t get close enough to them to catch them. Anyways I have one chicken who has been in the box for 2 weeks or so. I saw her get up once and I was gonna get the eggs but then I came back and she was back on there. Is this normal? What should I do? It is 2 hens and no access to roosters. Thanks in advance!!

 

[Emelyn]

I moved into my home about 3 years ago. Shortly after I had some chickens come around. I started feeding them and they started roosting in my trees. I unfortunately lost one last year to a hawk. Now there are 2. They used to lay eggs in the saw grass but my dad was nice and made me a few nest boxes that are just on my porch that they have begun to lay in there. They free roam and I can’t get close enough to them to catch them. Anyways I have one chicken who has been in the box for 2 weeks or so. I saw her get up once and I was gonna get the eggs but then I came back and she was back on there. Is this normal? What should I do? It is 2 hens and no access to roosters. Thanks in advance!!

Yes and She is broody

 

[CuriousBeaks]

Yup, she's broody. Hens go broody even when their eggs can't be fertilized. Because you don't have a rooster, nothing will hatch from the eggs. This is perfectly normal, although you may want to research ways to "break a broody hen".

 

[nuthatched]

She's broody. A hen will go broody whether or not she's been around roosters.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I agree, she's broody. I would toss any eggs she's been sitting on if you're sure they're not fertilized. Put her in a lifted crate with food and water for a few days. No bottom on the crate; just bars. She needs the air flow under her to cool down her belly.

 

[PopoMyers]

I just finally won a week and a half long battle with a broody..Finally kept her in a cage with food and water for 2 nights each time she would go back and sit, and last straw I just blocked off her favorite boxes by putting an empty roast chicken container in the nests ( funny, now that I think of the irony) . She finally broke and is back to normal. You are the boss and are bigger than she is. Kick her off, take the eggs, and possibly even remove the box for a week. Good luck. Logically speaking, I've read that in the wild if a predator destroys the nest, she will not go back to it.