Poultry Talk Ontario (pto.ca)

Help me with my crazy hen. I have 14 chickens, no roosters. One hen is in the nesting box most of the day and sleeps in there. Can’t get her out to get eggs or get her to resume normal routine. Any ideas??

Shes broody and wants to hatch out babies.

DOes she hiss and fluff up?

Yep, find some eggs from a neighbor or somewhere that has a rooster. 21 days. It is very rewarding. For her too.

Killerbunny wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:14 am

DOes she hiss and fluff up?

She does not hiss but is very docile. More than normal and yes is fluffed up. I figured she was brooding.

Farrier1987 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:52 pm

Yep, find some eggs from a neighbor or somewhere that has a rooster. 21 days. It is very rewarding. For her too.

And if I don’t? How long will this last?

It can be very difficult to get her to stop and not great for her health either. I've never tried to stop one, I just give her some fertile eggs.

Kelly_family wrote: ↑

Mon Jun 25, 2018 6:52 am

Farrier1987 wrote: ↑

Sat Jun 23, 2018 7:52 pm

Yep, find some eggs from a neighbor or somewhere that has a rooster. 21 days. It is very rewarding. For her too.

And if I don’t? How long will this last?

If you "break" her broodiness within first 2-3 days, she may go back to laying.
If not, she will go thru the whole 3 weeks of "brooding" and then a week or two of considering her options, before starting to lay again.

My one year old, Stella, has gone broody twice this year. The first time she quit 2 days short of 21 days (right after I gave her eggs due in 2 days) and the second time she quit 14 days in. But I've seen another hen refuse to quit at all. Depends on the hen. It is very hard on them physically so I don't recommend just trying to wait it out. Either try to break her (a cool water bath and placed in a cage that has been raised up on blocks for air flow underneath and no bedding) OR get her some fertilized eggs. I agree with @Farrier1987 ...its a great experience to watch a hen hatch and rear chicks.

I have two Ameraucana year old hens that went broody this year. They were not with a rooster so no eggs were fertile. They sat for almost 3 weeks without coming out much, so I took the nest boxes out. It's been about 3 weeks since I took the boxes out. They are not acting broody so I will put the boxes back this week and see what happens. It has been quite hot here for most of June.