Orpington won't stop going broody but she stinks at it!!

[melissap]

We have a 6 month old white Orp hen and she keeps sitting on a pile of hay for days on end, stealing duck eggs to sit on (we have no rooster so her own eggs aren;t fertile - do they know that? can they tell?) but she's looking really ragged. I think she's getting pecked and she's not earing much and she keeps moving from spot to spot, never actually staying in one place. I started taking her off her nest to go outside to eat and drink and I've been taking the eggs from under her but she just runs rght back to the hay. What should I do?

 

[sourland]

Try locking her in a pen away from her nest site for a period of weeks. Upon occassion hens will set for so long that they become debilitated and die.

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Slip some ice cubes under her

 

[melissap]

is that a joke?...