Need Advice re: Broody Hen (several ?s)

[thegreypony]

One of our Buff Orps went broody a few weeks ago. After trying unsuccessfully to break this broodiness, we gave up and I got a dozen fertile eggs for her to hatch out in the hopes that this will satisfy her need to be a momma.

Put the eggs in "HER" nest box this past Monday (5/24) and she couldn't be happier to have them (or meaner...I didn't know a chicken could make every feather on their body puff up that tall!!). She doesn't appear to be leaving the nest at all at this point. I've put food and water within reach in the hopes she'll eat & drink. The first night she ate a little and drank a lot...now, not so much. Her comb and wattles are no longer bright red...is this normal? And yesterday when I went in to gather eggs, she was "pooting" - understandable since she's eating little but I'm hoping good since it must mean her guts are still moving?? Anwyay, she laid her last egg about a month ago and insisted on incubating air in this nesting box...in other words she didn't try to set on any one else's eggs. We wouldn't have gone this route if anything else had worked to break the broodiness.... *edited to add that this hen has a history of doing this and her previous owner just used to give her some bantam frizzle cochin eggs to hatch...seemed to work...


Could you folks who are experienced with this sort of thing please offer us some advice? We are new to the chicken game; absolutely new to this aspect of it. I want to make sure we are doing all we can to keep our hen healthy.
Thanks so much!
Joy

 

[LarryPQ]

My avatar is less than a year old, and she is on her second batch of eggs this spring. I worry she'll make herself sick.

SO, I have been making her special treats like scrambled eggs, yogurt, and high-protien feed all mixed up together. Since she won't get up to eat, I have to put the food right next to her---which requires a stick because she pecks like a mother clucker. She still looks a little pekid--but when her last batch got "active" she perked right up. I think chickens need exercise too. All that sitting makes them look like couch potatoes.

 

[PhlyinPheBee]

I have a frizzle banty that goes broody all the time. She is raising her 3rd batch of babies. None of them are from her but she does not know that. She only gets off her nest 1 time a day for a drink, food and a quick bath. To break her I put her in a cage that is off the ground with only food and water. No bedding or box. It only takes about 3 days to break her.