Possible eggbound or broody

[black_cat]

Sorry! Don't know how that posted twice
My questions are:

If we allow her to hatch an egg or two will this encourage her broodiness for years to come? This is not something we are wanting.

Do we have to separate her and her chick(we would only allow one fertilized egg) for safety reasons? I don't believe we currently have a good set up for separating her from the rest and are not interested in building a second coop right now.

And lastly, is it too late in the year for her to safely raise a chick? We are in east central Illinois.

Thank you,
Cara

A great person to answer those questions is @MarkJr

 

[The Happster]

Sorry! Don't know how that posted twice
My questions are:

If we allow her to hatch an egg or two will this encourage her broodiness for years to come? This is not something we are wanting.

Do we have to separate her and her chick(we would only allow one fertilized egg) for safety reasons? I don't believe we currently have a good set up for separating her from the rest and are not interested in building a second coop right now.

And lastly, is it too late in the year for her to safely raise a chick? We are in east central Illinois.

Thank you,
Cara

No, it shouldn't do. Since she has already shown broody traits, it's likely she will go broody again, because it's in her personality.
It isn't too late to hatch, but you may find it easier to not hatch. It's easy enough to break the broodiness. Then on top of that, it would be best to wait until you can have more than one chick.
If you do decide to hatch, I would separate the hen and chick from the flock.

 

[bhawk-23]

No, it shouldn't do. Since she has already shown broody traits, it's likely she will go broody again, because it's in her personality.
It isn't too late to hatch, but you may find it easier to not hatch. It's easy enough to break the broodiness. Then on top of that, it would be best to wait until you can have more than one chick.
If you do decide to hatch, I would separate the hen and chick from the flock.

Thank you!

Another question:

If this is her personality and most likely going to happen again and again what is the harm of just allowing her to cycle in and out of this behavior? If she is staying healthy and we are not concerned about her laying eggs consistently what is the downside of allowing her this behavior?

 

[The Happster]

Thank you!

Another question:

If this is her personality and most likely going to happen again and again what is the harm of just allowing her to cycle in and out of this behavior? If she is staying healthy and we are not concerned about her laying eggs consistently what is the downside of allowing her this behavior?

Brooding means she is not getting regular exercise, she is eating less than she needs, and she will be holding in her droppings.
Over time that can be pretty hard on her.

 

[bhawk-23]

Brooding means she is not getting regular exercise, she is eating less than she needs, and she will be holding in her droppings.
Over time that can be pretty hard on her.

Yikes! We will have to figure out how to address this.
Thank you for the advice! Everyone here is so willing to help, we so appreciate this wonderful resource.

 

[aart]

If we allow her to hatch an egg or two will this encourage her broodiness for years to come? This is not something we are wanting.

No.

If I have questions about this should I move over to the hatching eggs and not clutter up this thread?

Yes, would be best, and polite, to start a new thread if you want her to hatch chicks.