hi guys the long and the short of it is... 2 hens, one older one younger...both commercial layers "new hampshire red" & "Isa Brown" the new one is the younger hen, only had her for 2 - 3 weeks. she layed eggs for the first week and then stopped for 2 weeks already. the older hen has suddenly gone broody, wont leave the coop. she used to lay 6 eggs per 7 days. i stole the eggs under her in hope to stop her broodiness. so now she sits on nothing all day..and she hasnt layed since the past week since broodiness.! Question 1, do hens stop laying when they are broody? and if someone steals the egg, she wont lay anymore? question 2, why has the young one stop laying? can it be possible that the young one is put off from laying because it sees the old one broody? hmmm well in Australia at the moment its nearly reaching summer. average temperature of 25 - 30 degrees celcius...(77 - 86 deg farenheiht) it will only get hotter here. does anyone have advice on this? thanks
yes.. invite me to live with you for the winter time.. just joking... my grandma and me to get a hen over her broody put her in ice water for a few minutes have her sit in it til her body temp lowers from where it is. this is not cruel. in fact my grandma would throw them in the creek sometimes several times a day til they got over it. of course yo have to keep them away from their nest for awhile.
Yes it's normal for a hen to stop laying while she's broody. It can be tough to break a hen of her broodiness. Sometimes you just have to wait it out. Search the form you'll find lots of suggestions. As for the other one not sure. Have you changed feed or diet? Re-arranged the coop? Is the coop warm enough? Are you using artificial light in the coop to make the days seem longer? Could just be the cold weather, my Delawares have nearly stopped now that winter has finally hit. My RIR's are still laying strong though. *EDIT* HAAH just read about you being in Australia . . . ignore my rambling about the cold weather LOL
Quote:hi there well since you know im in australia... how does a chickens egg laying ability react to 80 degrees farenheit temperature? if any affects? im not sure why the other one isnt...from my understanding & experience...ISA browns are very efficient egg layers.... no i havent changed the coop, ive always fed the same diet. its odd though...first week i was getting eggs...2nd and third...it seems like it gave up hmm
if she just started laying it may go on and off for a while. Other than that Im not sure as long as they are getting fed well. I havent had a broody hen but I have read others who mentioned penning her up away from the nest for a few days to try to "reset" her.
I have read on here that some people put a broody hen in a cage with a wire bottom so air can get to her underside for a few days to break the broodiness. Also, she may not lay for a while after the broodiness is broken. Normally a hen quits laying, sits on her eggs for 21 days, and then doesn't lay again until her chicks are old enough to take care of themselves. As for the other one, I read somewhere that when a hen produces an egg, that yolk was formed up to nine days before, so she may have been laying what she already had, and due to the stress of moving to a new home, she hasn't adjusted enough to start laying again. I am speaking from what I have learned from reading, and not experience. But I hope your girls lay again soon!
