Need help - Buff Orpington gone broody and not laying

[blue-eyed boy farm]

Hi, my buff orpington has gone broody for about a week now and has stopped laying eggs. How do I get her to stop this behavior? I remove the egg (from the other chicken) from the nesting box every morning before I leave work but sometimes the other chicken (Americana sp?) will lay after I leave so don't get the egg out until I return home.

Should I close up their house during the day? But if I do that will the Americana start laying her eggs in the run or wait until I get home?

The girls are about 18 months now and have been laying consistently for at least 9 months. I am also worried about the orpington as we have had some really hot weather, 115 last weekend, and she is not coming out to get water unless I physically remove her from the chicken house, then she just goes right back in.

Any suggestions on what to do would be much appreciated!

 

[Happy Chooks]

I haven't dealt with a broody, but here's a bump for you.

 

[A2SciTeach]

If you use the search function and type broody and select "Chicken behaviors and egglaying" you'll get tons of help. The only thing I would add to all that's already been written on this subject is you have to really be consistent or all your work will be for naught. In other words, whatever measures you take, it's going to take persistence to break her of her broody ways. Best of luck

and

 

[CMV]

Aaaahhh... broodies. I know some love them, but...

Try isolating your hen in a wire bottomed cage with no bedding in a cool dim area for a couple days. Some people also withhold food, but I do not recommend that as broodies are usually somewhat underfed just from being broody. I used this method to break my broody twice and it worked.

You could try locking the hen out of the house, but this just puts off the inevitable. They go back to being broody as soon as they get back into the house. I tried replacing eggs with ice cubes, but this didn't work after multiple tries. I tried a few other things, but nothing worked but the wire bottomed cage.

My hen has been broody for months, now. I break the cycle and she's fine for a few weeks, then back to being broody. It has taken a toll on her. She looks very poor compared to her cohorts- skinny, pale, feathers thinning. She has finally popped out of her broodiness 2 days ago and I am hoping it's for good. This is the first time it has not been forced by me.

Good luck.

 

[blue-eyed boy farm]

Thank you very much for the information. I am going to try the wire cage idea and see if it will work. how long did you keep her in there?

 

[blue-eyed boy farm]

Quote:
Sorry missed the "couple of days" part. I will definetly try your idea. As I have only two chickens (lost two during the heat wave we had last week) the other one is a bit lonely and am only getting one egg a day now.

Thanks again.