Help my hens started to sit

[miron28]

well for the longest time i wanted my hens to sit on eggs and hatch them but i decide that at 60 something chickens that i was at my limit..... and now my hens are starting to sit.. how do i get them to stop sitting. i have 2 dominecker and 2 buff orpingtons and 1 rode island starting to sit and i want eggs not for them to sit. i take them off the nest and all that but they just go right back to sitting

what do i have to do to get them to stop?

 

[chickenlady81]

I tried not letting my hen in the coop during the day and she would sit by the door and sqwabble until i let her in. I finally gave her some eggs to sit on so hopefully she will start laying once the chicks have hatched! All I know is its hard to break them...for me anyway.

 

[xanaxnation]

my orpington sat on the other hens blank eggs for almost a month before i gave in and bought her some chicks. maybe you can let her hatch them and sell the chicks? or thin your flock a little? good luck

 

[tberggren]

If you keep taking the eggs they will eventually give up, especially if you try to move them. I have four that are sitting now and two that have tried in the past the two that gave up were one's I tried to move. This was after taking the eggs for weeks and then finally deciding that maybe they could sit on some but not where they were at. When I went to move them they freak so that it broke their broodiness. ;o)

 

[Judy]

The method recommended here is put them in a wire bottom cage for 2-3 days with food and water but no nesting material or litter at all, and set the cage up so air flows below it.

 

[sharon_k]

I am having this same issue with my silver laced wyandotte. She has gone broody, and she will not come out of the coop in the am with my other hens. I send my 3 1/2 year old daughter in to pluck her out of the nest (she's pretty good about it, just squabbles a little) So I've been shutting the coop all day but this is messing up my other hens, b/c I have no idea where they're laying their eggs, if at all! So I'm getting less eggs b/c of this issue. I like the idea of getting her some eggs to hatch. My husband will not like this (LOL) as we have enough chickens, but oh well!

 

[ebonykawai]

I've had 3 broodies so far, out of a flock of 10 RIR.

I don't have a cage, but I set up a big outdoor chicken jail that I throw them in every morning, so the other hens can get in the boxes and lay. When everyone is done laying, I let them out of jail. At night I put them on the roosts. My first broody gave up in about 2 weeks. We'll see how long these 2 take.

 

[miron28]

well i put them in a cage today so i will give it a couple of day and see how it goes

 

[rancher hicks]

Could you just give her one "real" egg and the others fake? When the one chick hatches You'd only have one chick each to find homes for. RIR that will brood are rare aren't they?