One hen broody and they all quit?

[Buckbeak01]

Hey y'all! I have a backyard flock of 6 hens. My original 4 are a year old and have been steady layers almost daily since spring. My light Sussex (who is the one in charge) recently went broody. Since she has gone broody, the other 3 girls have almost quit laying too! Is this normal? I went from 3-4 eggs a day, to only 1 now! (And that's my Australorp the only reliable one that lays daily)
I've tried to break my Sussex from being broody. I can only have a flock of 6 hens in my area, and I don't have a Roo..... I can't really seperate her from the others because I only have one coop and run with limited space. Any ideas on what I can do?
Thanks!

 

[curious chickee]

Many times when one goes broody others follow and going broody means they want to sit and not lay. Could you block of the nesting boxes during the day and open them long enough to allow them to do their daily lay.