Questions about hens going broody

[Eggstravaganza]

Hi, so I'm pretty new to chickens and have only had mine for about a year. I somehow can't find an answer to this: how long does a given chicken typically go broody for? Is it pretty permanent and they won't stop after they start? Are there any good ways to "break" the broodiness and if so, how? Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[Alaskan]

The reason you haven't found any good answers, is because there aren't any!

Some hens, if you pick them up off of the nest they are in, and put them in a different nest, they will stop being broody. But, there are others that you could move every day, and they wouldn't care, they will sit on an empty nest for 60 days, just waiting.

Because it is such an individual thing, there is no good answer or one "fits all" solution.

There are different things that you can try to stop a hen from going broody, I have seen them listed before, but can't remember them off hand, because I have never tried to break a broody hen.

But even the most determined broody, if you do absolutely nothing, will *eventually* give up and go back to regular activities. At a guess (remembering the broody hens I have had, not going from any study) they stay broody for two months at the most..

 

[Eggstravaganza]

Alright cool, great to know. I'm excited to start getting eggs from my Sussex again (hopefully any day now...)