How long will they stay Broody

[ChickChick55]

We are new to chickens, we have 3 which we thoroughly enjoy. We have one that is no trouble, lays most days, One that is a beautiful chicken, with the reddest comb, but only lays a shell less egg occaisionally, and the third one a speckled longhorn was doing well but went broody 3 weeks ago . She is now like a phsyco chick, moody, wont come out of th coop, we have tried loads of things, but she is still the same, how long can we expect this to go on. We have to keep the nesting boxes locked and guess when the laying one wants to go in. Help please.

 

[sourland]

Broodiness varies from hen to hen. Many will set until somewhat past the hatch date and then give up. Others will set for months. There are many ways to break a broody hen - sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. A search on this site should bring them up. For me simply locking the hen in a cage away from where she is setting until she gives up has worked as well as anything.

 

[Double Laced]

the odd occasional egg with no shell is a not a problem, sometimes happens when they are young. If it happens regularly then you might need to add some grit / shell. Keep your egg shells , roast in the oven for a few mins and crush, then feed them to the hens.

Broody is always difficult. the secret to turning hens of being broody is speed. If you can catch them before the really settle than can be easy to turn away. the longer they sit, the more difficult it is to get them off. they are also always defensive and bad tempered.

Try putting a few ice cubes under her. the cold might shift her. You may have to separate her into a pen with nowhere to brood f( cold garage floor) or a few days to break the habit.

Hope this helps.

 

[ChickChick55]

Thanks, I have tried making her uncomfortable, etc etc, the only option I think is to make her more uncomfortable, trouble is I would love to give her fertilised eggs, but we are going on holidays soon and now is not a good time, and I am afraid that when we are away the chicken sitter wont be around all day to get her out and open and shut the coop as and when requiered by chicken that is laying. We got 4 more weeks before hols, so hopefully we can break her by then.. Thanks again.Must be cruel to be kind.

 

[ChickChick55]

Thanks Double Laced, but she has never laid an egg with a shell, she has grit, (large and small), crushed egg shells, egg shell improver, all to no avail, she is not laying at all now anyway, and as she thinks she is the "boss" she has to do what the others are doing, so she too likes to sit all day, given the chance. She isnt the boss really, cause as I always put two "treat" boxes in the pen, Big Bird stands over the "treats" stating this is mine, the little one just eats from the other tray, when big bird notices this, she goes there, and little bird just changes tray. they are so entertaining. Im rambling now, so thanks for replying.