[Henlady]

I have one hen who has been sitting on the nest box for about 2 almost 3 weeks.  We have tried locking her out but she just sits under the ramp to the house, her comb seems to have shrunk and gone very pale also.

How long will this last I feel so sorry for her.

[Casey76]

You have to attempt to de-broody her, else she can sit for a long time (hens can starve themselves to death)  Becoming broody is a hormonal change, which is why it can take a few days to knock them out of it.

Place her in an old dog crate, or similar where it has a wire floor (this musn't touch the ground) with pellets/mash and water available.  The idea is that part of the hormonal response to broodiness is the breast of the hen becomes very warm for her to brood the eggs.  By placing her in a wire pen the cool air can get to her breast and cool her off, which knocks the hormones back to normal - but as i said, as it is a physiological reaction it can still take a couple/few days to do this.