How do you stop brooding in a hen with no rooster?

[myorkdc]

My girl has been "broody" for 4 weeks and I am beginning to worry. How can I break of this behavior/instinct?

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.
You might want to post a new thread under Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forums/chicken-behaviors-and-egglaying.18/

 

[A_Fowl_Guy]

You can crate her for 3-4 days with food and water.

 

[sylviethecochin]

You can put her in a wire cage (no contact with floor) so that the cool air moves under her. She should stop brooding in as few as three days. Or you could try putting a few sexed pullet chicks under her, carefully, at night, and hope she accepts them.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-hen-tips-pictures-on-what-to-do.72137/

I mean no offense, but you should have done this three weeks ago. Hens have no idea how long they've been setting, and so they will set until they're too ill to set anymore--and sometimes longer--if the eggs don't hatch.

EDT: If you catch it very early (2-3 days) they may go back to laying within a week. If you wait longer, they'll use up more of their reserves, and will be more inundated with hormones, and can take up to eight weeks to begin laying again.

 

[ChickNanny13]

2x sylviethecochin

 

[drumstick diva]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens. Very good advice from sylviethecochin

 

[CarpCharacin]

Welcome to BYC! We're glad you decided to join!
I've moved your thread to the Chicken Behaviors and Egglaying section, I think you'll get more assistance there.

 

[aart]

Welcome out of the BYC 'closet', Congrats on your first post since joining 6 months ago!

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
It's probably gonna take longer to break her after she's sat for a month.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate 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.

 

[ChickNanny13]

IT works

 

[EggSighted4Life]

Or you could adopt her some young feed store chicks since she has already sat so long... if you have room for them.

Agree with others... break early next time, even for my hens that have a rooster if I don't have space for more birds... I also use a wire bottom kennel for night time and lock them in pasture away from the lay box during the day.