Oh no! Shes gone broody!

[pharmchickrnmom]

I have a GLW hen who has gone broody on me! Everyone has been laying since september but now Eleanor has gone broody! Is this normal for this age (27 weeks)? She refuses to leave the nest boxes unless I physically move her out of it. I took out the golf balls and collect the eggs several times a day. I cant tell if she is laying or not because I have seen Gladys and Betty in the box with her so it might be their eggs I am finding. Tonight I closed the apron after I let the girls out to freerange and yanked Eleanor out of the box and put her on the ground with the others. She spent most of the time running around the tractor and run trying desperately to find a way back in. I felt really bad for her and even held her for a while trying to calm her but to no avail. How do I break her? If we werent going into winter, I might try to find some eggs for her to hatch. How long will she be broody? Will she lay eggs while broody?

 

[kateseidel]

One of my buff orpingtons went broody and stayed that way for 3 weeks. She was still as friendly and loving as always, but I never saw her get off that nest except when I picked her up and sent her outside twice a day. She would stay out for about 20-30 minutes, then right back to the next. She would wait for the other hens to lay, then roll their eggs into her nest! And then one day, it was just over! My second broody only went a few days before she got over it.