Please Help!! Broody hen

[breakfast crew]

I have 6 hens and recently one went broody....I say recently it was about 45 days ago. Everything I read says it should last about 20-25 days, to say the least we have passed that mark. She isn't bad about letting me pick her up and get the eggs but I have to shut her out of the coop to make her eat and drink something. Here's the problem, I'm in north florida and its pretty hot out this time of year and VERY humid. I picked her up out of her nest box today and realized underneath her felt wet and dirty and there was a very strong smell, that of a dead animal. I was busy yesterday and couldn't grab the eggs so it has been 2 and a half days since I last picked her up. I put a board on top of her box so she couldn't get back in it tonight hoping she will sleep on the perch with the rest if the girls. We don't have a rooster sp the eggs wouldn't have been fertilized. Why would this horrible smell all of a sudden come out of nowhere? And please any tips on how to make her NOT broody! If she stays like this for a little while longer we will manage I am just afraid she is getting sick from not eating hardly anything or drinking hardly any water. Another question, with our heat and humidity how long can she sit on the eggs before they are not safe to eat anymore?

 

[Happy Chooks]

You will either need to get her some day old chicks or break her. Chickens cannot tell time and the stubborn ones will continue to sit, even to the detriment of their health. To break a broody, you put her in a wire cage with food and water but NO nesting material. Put the cage up on cinderblocks to get air flow under her. If you decide to get her a couple of chicks, make sure they are day old chicks and slip them under her at night in the dark.

I have 5 broodies right now. They are certainly keeping me on my toes. But look how happy they can be raising their babies. Nothing is sweeter than watching a mama hen and her babies.

 

[breakfast crew]

Thanks for the advice- we covered up the nest box for the last couple days and she's actually getting out of coop on her own and eating/drinking again without worrying about "babies"! Thanks again

 

[insmokesimage]

The rotten smell you are smelling is a rotten egg or two. Trust me! They stink like there is no tomorrow! LOL! I had a hen that went broody. Out of the twelve eggs, 7 of them went rotten. One of them busted and got all over her and two of the babies. It was gross!