Excessive broodiness

BigV

Chirping
6 Years
Jun 17, 2015
7
5
62
Akron, Ohio
I recently 4/20/19 added number of new chicks to my flock. They all started laying around August. Since that time, I have had one Brown Leghorn that has gone broody twice, and just 2 days ago she went broody for the 3rd time!
In the past I’ve put her in a dog crate for a few days to rid her of her broodiness. It’s cold here in Ohio now and I hate to put her in a crate by herself. I’ve tried blocking the nesting boxes from noon to dark, but each morning she’s back in the nesting box. Is it unusual for a hen to go broody 3 times in 9 months? Any suggestions on how to stop this behavior?
Thanks!
 
Sometimes allowing them to raise a brood of chicks will lengthen the interval between broody spells, but now is not the time of year for that in Akron, Ohio.
I thought a hen being broody 3 times in less than a year was a bit excessive.
I don’t have a rooster (not allowed by city ordinances) so raising young is not an option. Perhaps in the spring I could get some fertilized eggs from my son and let her hatch them.
 
Some are more determined than others. Pretty much have to break her each time, and yes if she goes broody again in spring and you'd like to have some chicks, that would be a much better time to try hatching.
 
Had a hen go broody 7 times over one summer...
...that was after I broke her the previous fall and let her hatch in March.
She weaned those chicks at 4 weeks, laid a few eggs, and started trying to set again.
I finally gave her away, she never went broody again.
 

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