Greedy hen

[jandsferguson]

I need help I have a hen that is stealing all the eggs laid in the coop and is sitting on them. How can I change this unwanted behavior?

 

[ShellyBear]

Well she's being broody so I would try to break that cycle. Hope this site helps!

http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/what-exactly-is-a-broody-hen-and-how-to-stop-it/

 

[jandsferguson]

Well she's being broody so I would try to break that cycle. Hope this site helps!

http://www.thehappychickencoop.com/what-exactly-is-a-broody-hen-and-how-to-stop-it/

Thanks. Yes I thought it was called being broody. However I never thought she would put that many eggs under her. I don't mind if she hatches a few but she now has about 20 eggs under her. Also how can I get them to use their chicken house? They always stay in the run. Getting them into the chicken coop is impossible. I tried to put them in the house part of the coop and they freaked out and jumped out the door. So I can't use the traditional removing her from the nesting box ect. However I need to figure out how to keep her from putting any more eggs under her. Any suggestions since she is in with other hens and a rooster? I would still like to collect the others eggs. Or is that impossible? Also do you think all of those eggs will hatch? Yikes. lol I didn't really want all those chicks but I feel bad killing the embryos. Hopefully I can find homes for them. I give them to good homes if I can find some. Then the broody must be stopped lol. Thank you for your article it helped. :/)

 

[ShellyBear]

A broody hen will take as many eggs as she can sit on, our girls run in the coop at at night because that is where they get there food and perch. An embryo wont develop till 24hours of a perfect temp and humidity so you shouldn't wory to much about that. Considering she is with a rooster the eggs will have a chance of being fertile and capable of hatching. If you don't mind having a few cute chicks scurrying around, I say serperate her from the flock into her own space and let her hatch just a few not 20 . . .lol if possible, make sure she has water and food. Oce she hatches out a few chicks she will go back to normal.

 

[ShellyBear]

Maybe make the nesting boxes hard for her to gather the eggs, that way she can only have the amount of eggs in one nesting box.