Broody hen questions

[Chickenma65]

Out of the last 6 years have chickens this is our first time having one broody. She’s just laying in the one spot for the past week. Bare belly belly and warm, not laying eggs and I haven’t seen her eat or drink. I tried to give her stuff yesterday and today no interest but when we let her roam she eat some grass and and very little egg. Is this normal? How long does it take for them to get over this? We don’t want more at the moment, so I don’t know how to help her through this. When we move her she just goes back to the one spot.

 

[TheChicken-nator]

They only way I know to break it is two out a broken egg or two by the spot she's laying and destroy the nest

 

[rosemarythyme]

Break her by caging her with food and water. She stays in there until she stops showing overt signs of broodiness. If done immediately they'll usually break fairly quick, in 2 or 3 days.

To test if she's truly over it, let her out after she stops showing broody signs (I usually test at 3 day mark) and if she goes back to the nest box at any point, put her back in the cage another 24 hrs.

 

[Lady Chocobo]

Break her by caging her with food and water. She stays in there until she stops showing overt signs of broodiness. If done immediately they'll usually break fairly quick, in 2 or 3 days.

To test if she's truly over it, let her out after she stops showing broody signs (I usually test at 3 day mark) and if she goes back to the nest box at any point, put her back in the cage another 24 hrs.

This worked for me to this is my fist year with chickens and in all ready had this issue a couple of times this Method worked every time

 

[aart]

Out of the last 6 years have chickens this is our first time having one broody. She’s just laying in the one spot for the past week. Bare belly belly and warm, not laying eggs and I haven’t seen her eat or drink. I tried to give her stuff yesterday and today no interest but when we let her roam she eat some grass and and very little egg. Is this normal? How long does it take for them to get over this? We don’t want more at the moment, so I don’t know how to help her through this. When we move her she just goes back to the one spot.

Are you positive she's broody?

These are my go-too signs of a broody bird:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.