Broody Girl

[lexrn]

Have a Buff Orpington (among others) who has decided to brood. She seems to be in a trance of sorts. Will she eat or drink during this phase? If I let her go ahead and sit on eggs will she come out of it once chicks hatch? So far I have separated her from the other hens as she wasn't letting the others lay in the nest box (so I was finding eggs all over.) Should I break her of the brood instead of letting her sit? So far only 2 eggs under her as I have been removing them daily until yesterday.
Thanks for any help. New to the forum.

 

[skeeter9]

The easiest thing is just to let her hatch some eggs. It's really hard to break up a broody. Buff Orps tend to go broody and they make great moms. Yes, she will come out of her trance once her babies have hatched, and yes, she will probably get off her nest once a day to eat and drink and poop. Other than that, she will sit on her eggs in a trance, getting up occasionally to shift position and roll ler eggs around a little.

Lori

 

[lexrn]

Thanks for the help! Your answer is what I want to do, but didn't want to harm her in the process.