more broody nonsense. i dont have a roo, so she's sitting on blanks

[xanaxnation]

my girls are right at the 1yr mark and my buff orp went broody for the first time a couple of days ago. i have 3 girls and they share the laying area. all 3, including the orp are still laying, but the orp wont get off the eggs. i dont have a roo so the eggs are fertile. i have to nudge her off the eggs and hold her back a little bit to get the eggs. can you give some suggestions on how to break broodiness? im not adding to the *flock* at this time, so i dont want to put fertile eggs (like from a hatchery or the feed store) under her.what do i do about this silly hen?

thx!

 

[LynneP]

I agree, and she may 'go light' and get ill. Some thoughts on what I did, with good advice from experienced owners:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=7693-sick-hen

 

[verity]

I felt really mean, but followed the advice about putting 'Ms. Broody' in a wire dog-crate up on bricks so that she could 'cool off' --

I put in food and water and I also picked her up and took her out to be with the others three times a day --- and then it was back in the wire pen. After 4 days she decided to give it up and resume her normal routine --

(I think it was harder on me than it was on her to have her penned up in the dog-crate!)