Hen will not get out of nesting box!

[Coachp]

I gather eggs every day. But I have one hen that stays in the nesting box all day- without any eggs. I take her out and put with the other chickens- but within 30 minutes she sneaks back in and is in the box. Any suggestions???
Thanks in advance!

 

[newnanchic]

sounds like she wants to ba a MAMA !! Give her a few of those eggs and let her sit !! That is if they are fertile !!!

 

[Ridgerunner]

She is broody. You have two choices. If you want new chicks and have fertile eggs, you can put them under her and hatch them. You can also order fertile eggs. Plenty of people on this site will sell them to you.

The other option is to break her from being broody. Isolate her in chicken prison where she cannot get back to the nest and leave the isolation bare. No nest in there. It helps if she is over wire where her undersides get cool. Provide her with food and water and in 3 or 4 days, she should be back to her unbroody self.

This is a good site for info on broody hens.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/broody-hens-1.html

 

[Coachp]

The eggs are not fertile- and I remove the eggs daily. A farmer down the road told me that when that happens - its Sunday dinner.

Will she get over it or do I have a problem?

 

[Coachp]

Ridge- thanks. I will wait until it gets a little warmer and isolate her. thanks!

 

[jjthink]

Quote:
Huh? The farmer sounds as uninformed as most of the people encountered in feed stores!
JJ

 

[Coachp]

I think he was going to have Sunday dinner anyway- it was an easy target to catch. I like chicken- but not mine!

 

[PortageGirl]

Oh my heavens!!! That farmer is a silly goose! (sorry don't mean to insult BYC member's geese!)

She's fine, if you aren't going to give her eggs to hatch, yep, get her into a pen where she'll have a hard time nesting, and she'll give it up after a while, though some are very stubborn. It's true that if you don't do something about it, they can get very poorly from not eating enough and mooning on the nest, but if you eat every broody hen you get, you might wind up with a mighty small flock! (depending on the breed, some do go broody quite a bit)

Here's an article about having broody hens raise chicks, I see that isn't your main goal right now, but it's worth reading for future reference and general knowledge.

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

 

[cajunlizz]

Quote:
Yes , put food , water , and NO nest in an enclosed pen or cage and let her come out of this hormonial stage . even after she is out of this stage , it could take her as long as a couple of months to start back laying .


So , how many hens to do you have since you have no rooster to fertilize these eggs ? Because she might be the 1st. of your hens to go broody , BUT it WON'T be the last time she does and majority of all hens will go broody from time to time . So , I suggest you get at least 1 rooster , unless you want to continue fighting these broody stages , OR Do you want to raise baby chicks ?

 

[Coachp]

I have 13 chickens- they are almost 6 months old. I do not want chicks (no room really). I will try the isolation. Poor girl. But its better than the farmer's pan.