Will the other hens lay?

[lucidmom]

We have a broody hen sitting on 6 eggs. When the other hens go into the coop to lay they get growled at, and end up leaving. Will they find another place to lay or will they stop until they can sit in the box again? There is more than one box to lay in, but they insist on using just the one. In fact, one hen did get pushy and shoved herself down close to the brooder, and when she was down laying, the brooder stood up and collected the other egg to add it to her batch. She was very proud of herself.

 

[ChickensAreSweet]

They'll work it out from my experience. You might wish to mark the eggs you are letting her set on with a pencil if they are fertile and you are going to hatch them out.

If you want to break her broodiness you can put her in a cage with no nest in it (open wire on bottom) and hopefully the urge to brood will be gone in 24-48 hrs. (with food and water in there obviously).