My hen went broody and is setting on unfertilized eggs!

[EurekaSouth]

My oldest egg hen (the rest are all about 3 months old) went broody last week. None of my roos are old enough to do the job, so she's setting on eggs that will never hatch! Is there anyone in the NE Alabama (Boaz/Albertville/Guntersville/Arab) area that has some eggs she can set on? She's setting herself up for heartbreak. What will happen when these eggs don't hatch, if I can't find any fertile ones? And if I do, will she set on them until they hatch?

 

[nat2009]

When my hen went Broody we moved her to another cage and she stopped sitting on her eggs. So Maybe you could do that.

 

[birdlover]

OR you could try to find her a couple of chicks to slip under her after she's been sitting a couple of weeks. However, I have a little silkie that goes broody about once every other month and, at the end of 21 days, she gets off the nest and just goes back to being her silly old self. (I don't let her sit on any eggs) I don't think she feels sad when she doesn't get any babies. I think WE think they're sad but its a hormonal thing and, once the hormones go back to "normal", they act like nothing ever happened (or rather...DIDN'T happen! lol).

Ellen