Hen stays in next box 24/7

[PJCluck]

One of my 20 hens stays in an upper level nest box all the time now, has been there for over a week. I scoot her out and she goes out into the run with the others and eats.... within a half hour, she is back in the next box as if she is laying. No eggs, though. She appears healthy, walks okay, does not look sick... what is this about?

 

[Farm_Maven]

sounds like she's broody

 

[sheila3935]

put some eggs under that girl

 

[angie3881]

Mine do that sometimes, too. I keep checking and not a single egg. I also had one girl who did that all the time in a lower box and then we discovered she is actually blind.

 

[PJCluck]

Will she get over this in time?

Put eggs under her? seriously?

 

[Farm_Maven]

yep, put some fertilized eggs under her. In roughly 21 days, YIPPEE! more chickens!! Do you have a rooster?

 

[PJCluck]

No roosters here.

 

[teach1rusl]

Quote:
People who want chicks do that. I've only had two broody hens (one right now). One I let sit for about 23 days on nothing (it takes chicks about 21 days to hatch), then I had to break her. The current one is sitting on two eggs plus one wooden one. I don't think either of the real eggs she's sitting on are fertile, but I'm still going to let her sit for three weeks, and if she doesn't give up after that, I'll have to break her too. They lose a lot of weight while they're sitting, so although I put her off the nest 2x a day and take her snacks on the nest, I don't want her spending any more time sitting than she has to. If you want chicks, you can stick some fertile eggs under her.

 

[Farm_Maven]

you could prolly get some fertile eggs from someone here on BYC. Or locally possibly. Otherwise, you can try to break her broodiness by dipping her bottom in cold water, or putting her in a cage with a wire bottom, and no nesting materials. Another option is to let her set on some golf balls for a couple weeks, then get some day old chicks, sneak them under her at night, and remove the golf balls at that time.

 

[jerseygirl1]

Quote:
When they go broody, they do not lay any eggs at all - they try and hatch what's unde rthem. If there's nothing there, they'll just sit there