My Broody Hen is in Trouble

[penquin]

I have a RIR that just went broody this past Friday. She was in a nest with no eggs so I picked her up and took her outside, when I looked again she was in another nest where all the other chickens lay. I picked all the eggs out and took her outside again. She just went right back to the nest. I pull her out every time I go past the hen house now until today. When I took her out this morning I noticed her running around, when I took a closer look she had all the other chickens chasing her and pecking her.
I don't know what I can do, please help.

 

[LoneOak]

She's broody, you need to leave her alone in a nest box with a few eggs and she will protect them and stay where the other birds can't get to her. If the eggs don't hatch in 3 weeks take them out a few at a time for a couple days and her broody period will pass and she will get back to normal. Don't leave the eggs in the nest long enough that they rot and start stinking.

 

[CochinBrahmaLover]

A hen will stay Broody for months until her eggs hatch.. Or she gets chicks..
You can either
A) break her broodyness by putting her on a wire cage that's suspended, or
B) give her eggs to hatch

 

[Pyxis]

If you really want to break her of being broody right away, put her in a wire bottom cage with no bedding and prop it up so that there is air flow underneath it. Obviously, be sure she is out of the weather and heat. Put some food and water in there with her, and that's it. Leave her in there. Something about the air flow under their behinds snaps them out of it. It can take a few days up to a week, but she'll break. Some hens are ridiculously stubborn and if not broken will go months trying to be broody, so if you want her to stop soon, this is your best bet.

Otherwise, if you'd like her to hatch some chicks for you and you have fertile eggs, just leave her in the nesting box with some eggs and in three weeks you'll have babies.

 

[Ravenseye]

The wire cage works pretty well. I used a small dog crate and laid some #4 hardware cloth along the bottom so the at I didn't have to use the plastic liner that came with it. I put that in the corner of the coop and rested all four corners on a small piece of 4X4 wood so that it was up off the ground. Took about a week for me although she had been broody for going on two weeks before that. She was a mean bird too which is why I didn't just wait it out.

 

[penquin]

Thanks everyone for the help, I'm getting the wire cage today.

thanks again
penquin