How long does a hen stay broody?

[feathers_3]

My hen just started being broody 2 or 3 days ago. I really want to try to hatch eggs this way but I just got chicks from my uncle and will have too many if I allow her to set. I get the eggs from under her everyday but how long will she stay broody?

 

[sumi]

Some hens will stay broody for weeks and weeks. Why don't you just give her say, 3 eggs to hatch? Then she'll get it out of her system. I had a broody once that stayed broody for 2 months. We tried everything. She drove me crazy. Eventually I just gave up and gave her some eggs.

 

[MichaelaO]

Hi, I am new here and maybe this has already been explained many times but I am too wondering how long can it take till this time is over? As I dont want to let her hatch little ones and I wish she could just get over it and continue to lay eggs. HOW LONG CAN IT TAKE? and i think it is normal this time that they loose so many feathers and get this kind of bump on her chest, that looks a bit like cancer, how someone else described it before? I wish I could do something to bring her back to normal again but not even our 4 kids are able to bring her back to normal.