Weird brooder

[warmseth]

I have an 9 month old that has become seriously antisocial. She sits in the next box day and night. I have no idea when she comes out to eat though she must as she's been doing this for a month and doesn't seem ill physically. It matters little if there are eggs in there or not. In fact she seems to be laying quite a bit less than the other three (all of whom seem to be very NON brooding). I never saw her being picked on by the other three so I don't know what might be causing her to want to brood over no eggs. Is there anything to be concerned about here (other than the lack of eggs)?

She's a Buff Orpington and has a Buff Orp sister and two black Austrolorp sisters...all the same age, raised together since chicks.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She's broody and Orps are a breed that tends to do that. Once they decide to raise a family they'll sit whether there are eggs or not. She won't lay eggs at all once broody.
If you don't plan on giving her fertile eggs it is best to break her. Traditionally that means suspending the bird in a wire bottom cage (w/food and water) to cool their underside. It takes several days.
You can also try to puller her out of the nest and block her from returning.
When broody they come out once a day to defacate eat and drink.
They will eventually give up on their own but it can take a while - the whole time eating little and you're without eggs.

 

[warmseth]

Thank you very much. As I don't have access to a wire cage and I don't know how to block her from the nest box without blocking the chickens I actually want using it for eggs I may just wait it out. So you think she'll just stop on her own after a while?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

After about a month so you could be out of eggs from her for up to 2 months.
She may quit sooner if you continue to collect eggs. I've even put ice in the nest.
The cage doesn't have to be fancy, just some chicken wire or hardware cloth wrapped around some wood slats. When I was a kid we always had a few slatted cages hanging from the ceiling for broody jail.