Hen won’t get out of the nesting box!

[ivyboo]

I have a year old hen that went broody almost 2 months ago. Once in awhile she will come out to eat but the other hens all of a sudden are mean to her. They peck her when she comes near them and stand up to her. Why won’t she snap out of it? My hens are now laying on the floor in the coop because she is taking up one of the nesting boxes all the time.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Get a wire crate, remove the tray & put 1 x 2 over the bottom wire = Broody Jail ... Put her with feed/water in it, no bedding, elevate off the ground on some blocks in the coop. Leave her in it for at least 3day. It keeps her part of the flock & should take care of her broodiness. She may need to be in longer.

You may want to check her over, broodies tend to loose weight. Check her for mites, with the summer heat we've had issues.

 

[DobieLover]

I have a year old hen that went broody almost 2 months ago. Once in awhile she will come out to eat but the other hens all of a sudden are mean to her. They peck her when she comes near them and stand up to her. Why won’t she snap out of it? My hens are now laying on the floor in the coop because she is taking up one of the nesting boxes all the time.

What have you done to break her broodiness?

 

[Chickassan]

Check her butt fluff for lice too!
Those have been worse than mites here when it comes to broody hens.

 

[ChickNanny13]

It's possible with her being broody for so long, she's lost weight and not 100%. The others sense it and are picking on her. I'm just guessing, check her weight and if you can feel her keel bone. If so, she's loosing weight and it weakens their immune system from what I've gathered.

I had a hen get broody but she didn't act serious, came off to eat and thought she'd break herself. Until I picked her up, she was so light & her keel bone was nasty. Broody Jail she went for 4 days before I allowed her out. After that, any broody went straight to Jail for at least 3 days.

 

[pennyJo1960]

Chicknanny is right she will make herself sick even die if you do not stop her please

 

[Chickassan]

You did mention mites lol!
That's why I threw lice out there too, though my broody was o.k until I saw those butt feather bases, lice city.

I was going to mention mites & lice ... My Grand Daughter's Silkie set on one egg, hatched and then found mites. Told my Daughter what needed to be done, took care of the problem but told them they needed to continue with the dusting cause of the weather & they're in FL.

 

[aart]

Get a wire crate, remove the tray & put 1 x 2 over the bottom wire = Broody Jail ... Put her with feed/water in it, no bedding, elevate off the ground on some blocks in the coop. Leave her in it for at least 3day. It keeps her part of the flock & should take care of her broodiness. She may need to be in longer.

Yes, this!^^^

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.

 

[ivyboo]

What have you done to break her broodiness?

I did separate her for 2 days with a gate but she found a way out herself. I have had hens in the past go broody but they come out on their own. I assumed they all came out on their own after 21 days but apparently that’s not the case. Does this make the others want to be mean? I have never seen that happen before. It’s like they just turned on her. Especially one particular hen. They used to be friends.

 

[ChickNanny13]

I was going to mention mites & lice ... My Grand Daughter's Silkie set on one egg, hatched and then found mites. Told my Daughter what needed to be done, took care of the problem but told them they needed to continue with the dusting cause of the weather & they're in FL.