I successfully broke a brooding hen 5 days ago and now she wont lay

[seajay]

I have an 8 month old Sussex Buff who has been laying a lovely little egg almost every day for about 2 months, she then started to brood, so I followed some advice I read here and kept her in 'isolation' for 36 hours, this worked brilliantly and she has stopped brooding but she has also not laid an egg since, which is now 5 days. Is this normal? Does anyone have any advice on getting her to lay again?

I am searching the pen and the garden every day in case she is laying outside instead but she isnt. All her other behaviours are just as gregarious and friendly as before so she doesnt seem nervous or affected by the brooding treatment.

Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[HEChicken]

It takes a little while after being broody before their body gets back in sync for laying again. Also, keep in mind that most techniques for breaking a broody only work temporarily. Most people find that they successfully break a broody only to have her go back to being broody a month or two later. The best way to really successfully break a broody is to let her hatch some eggs

. The first couple of times I had a hen go broody I had no rooster so I looked on CL and found some fertile eggs to put under them, and that worked great. If you don't want a huge increase in flock numbers, you could give her only 3 eggs and that way you won't be inundated with chicks.

Oh, and

 

[peepacheep]

My Speckled Sussex are my queens of broodiness. Great work getting her unbroody in 36 hours! I have one that went broody twice, 6 out of 8 weeks, this summer. She was determined! It usually takes them a week or so to get back into egg laying gear. It maybe a little longer this time of year since the days are getting shorter. Out of 23 hens the 2 that will lay eggs in the yard are Speckled Sussex. If I can catch them making the soft 'I gotta lay an egg' cluck then I can watch them to see where the latest egg stash is hiding. Good luck with your Buff Sussex, beautiful breed.

And

 

[seajay]

Thats great advice thanks, this was the first time she was broody and we are novices with chickens so I was really pleased that it worked, I will wait a while and if she does it again I will maybe try some fertile eggs, I guess they are pretty easy to get hold of then??

 

[seajay]

Thanks for the advice, I guess I will keep an eye on her for another week or so. She is a gorgeous hen and very funny to watch, she is definitely the boss of the group, so it will be great to get her back on track because even though her eggs are small they are very tasty.

Thanks again

 

[HEChicken]

I will wait a while and if she does it again I will maybe try some fertile eggs, I guess they are pretty easy to get hold of then??

I didn't have much trouble, so hopefully you will find the same. The first time, I put an ad on CL asking for fertile eggs, explaining that I had a broody hen and no rooster of my own. I had two people respond almost immediately and when I drove out to pick them up from the first guy, he wouldn't even take any money for them, which was seriously nice of him. The second time, I looked on CL and saw a lady that was advertizing eggs for eating. I called and asked if the eggs were fertile and she said they should be since she has a rooster and some of her hens had hatched out eggs not long before. So I bought 4 eggs from her at 20c an egg (my hen was a bantam and I figured that was all she could sit on anyway).