is she broody and what should i do?

[Picotine]

Hi, i have 2 barred rock hen and 2 roosters. a few days ago we started to notice one of our hen sit in the box every time we go in. we got them as day old around the 24th of june 2011 and they started laying last fall. she sit low in the box and just make gentle, quiet clucks. and since that time, we've only been getting one egg a day. just yesterday i noticed that the hay in the other box has been patted down some but no egg in there so i don't know what the other hen is doing.

i still dig under our broody hen and pick the eggs out. but even with no eggs in there, she'll keep sitting in. i also noticed that when they were just in there to lay, they'd refuse food if offered but when i showed her a handful of feed, she'll eat it even if she's sitting in the box. i've kicked her out of the box a few times and hubby found her back in the box when he went to check on them a few hours later.

at first i was worried she might have an impacted egg so i checked her vent 2 days ago and again today with no sight of anything bulging in there. how long can she keep sitting in there if i keep picking the eggs? could she make herself sick from not eating enough? am i making it worse from constantly removing the eggs and should i let her hatch a few? we were planning on ordering more pullets this spring/summer but now that i'm expecting for the summer, i didn't want to make my life more complicated then it already is and if she can hatch on her own, it might defeat the purpose of ordering new ones from the hatchery.

one last question. when the go broody, don't they stop laying eggs? and if so, how long after hatching do they resume laying?

thanks

 

[chickathon]

I'm pretty new to this too. I got my chickens about the same time you did yours. I had some older chickens from an aunt and was told they weren't the broody type. Well one hid her nest under the house and hatched out four. She would come out once a day and gorge herself on food and then go right back. She didn't lay another egg until they were about seven weeks old. I have an australorp that I have had to pick up off her nest four times this winter. It's just been too cold. She always lays her eggs in our out building. No matter how nice I make them in her coop. So stopping her was easy. Nothing is easier than letting momma take care of the babies It's awfully cute too. If you don't want her to hatch out any and have a safe place to put her for a couple of days away from her nest box that could work. Maybe a large dog carrier or something like that might work.

 

[Picotine]

thank you looks like i have 2 options... break her out of it or let her do what her instinct tells her to do and see if she's successful at it