I have a sitter

[TerryD]

Hi all.... I have 4 sex link hens that have been laying one egg almost every day without issues.. A couple weeks ago one hen began sitting on the eggs and refuses to leave the hen house. she keeps her feathers fluffed and I think she has stopped laying only sitting on the eggs every day all day trying to hatch them I suppose. Of course, there is no rooster around yet she continues to sit. How do I get her to stop this behavior and why is she doing it? The other hens run the pen area like normal and continue to lay eggs. Is this the beginning of molting?? she has all her feathers and all 4 are about 1year to 1.3 years old.

 

[A.M. Eggs]

She has gone broody, also known as wanting to hatch chicks. You can either buy fertilized eggs or day old chicks, or break her from being broody. If you want more chickens separate her and let her hatch eggs or give her some day old chicks at night. If you don't want any more chickens, you need to break her. There are many ways to break a broody and this article will help you with that:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...-with-all-things-broody.63028/#comment-504424

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She wants to raise a family. Once the hormones kick in, it doesn't matter if the eggs are fertile or even if there are any eggs at all.
The tried and true method of breaking a broody hen is to put them in an elevated wire bottom cage so cool air can get to their bottom. It is slower in hot weather but usually works in 2 or 3 days if caught early. Just put a little food and water in the cage.
A broody hen won't lay eggs. If she did, it would be a staggered hatch (if eggs ere fertile) and once chicks started to hatch, she would abandon the nest to care for the live chicks. The chill would kill the remaining embryos. That's why, in nature a female bird will assemble a clutch and then stop laying prior to sitting commencement.