As I stated in a previous post, I have just two golden buff orpington hens that like to sit on eggs. They haven't been too bad with it lately, this is the first time they have been doing it in a while, but my question is about separating them from the others. Is that effective if it's just in a seperate area but just behind a fence? I have a fenced in area that my ducks use at night, it has one big nest area in it. Can I put both of them in it to seperate them and stop them from hogging the nests that the other chickens want to use? The ducks only use that nesting area at night to sleep in and I change the bedding in it every morning.thank you!
Do you understand the difference between a broody hen and a hen that just "likes to sit on eggs"? Almost all laying hens enjoy the sensation of sitting on a couple of eggs, but that does not necessarily mean they are broody. If your sole objective is to keep them from hogging the nests with their unproductive behavior, then blocking them from the coop where the nests are is a good move. If your hens are broody and you wish them to incubate eggs and raise the chicks when they hatch, more thought must be given to keeping the other laying hens away from their nests so eggs with developing embryos don't get broken by a lot of activity in those nests. If you suspect these two hens are broody but it's not convenient for you at this time to go the route of incubating eggs and raising chicks, then there is a way to stop them being broody.