[jill247]

Hiya I think my hen is broody she is sitting on the eggs and I cant collect them today she came running out earlier for her treats and ran back in again before I had the chance to collect them. How long do they go broody for ?.  Today one of my hens havent layed so dont know if she is having trouble parting with it. When I go near her to check her she mows like a cat so I move away from her.

[hillfooter]

If she's a pure breed she is almost certainly broody.  They should be lifted twice a day to eat & drink and other vital functions.  They sometimes pluck their chest feathers too so the eggs will be next to their warm skin.  Other signs are when lifted off the nest they will usually flop down as if in a trance.  When they get to their feet they will fluff themselves up and make loud chucking noises and adopt a head down neck in stance and shuffle about a bit.  They also throw straw or shavings onto their backs why I'm not sure. 

They may try a feeble peck if you try to disturb them but it's not viscious.  They can remain broody for weeks anything from 3 to 6 weeks is normal.  You can break their broody behaviour look for posts on how to do this if you want to stop her.

HF

[ChristyRose]

When mine go broody I just carry on as normal and pick them up and put them on the ground and collect the eggs.  They wont hurt you.

[jill247]

Thankyou for your help and advise I try not to worry about them but I cant help it I could sit with them all day if I was there . In my head it was from a broody hen to a brain tumour lol . Hope im not the only one that thinks like this lol. Thankyou. xx

[Casey76]

Hi Jill, don't worry, You are definitely not the first person to wonder if their hen is broody or not

You really need to discourae her from being broody, especially at this time of year, so keep checking the nesting boxes, and every time you see her in one, gently pick her up and pop her outside.

If all of your other hens have finished laying for the day you can close up the coop to stop her going in the nest box at all.

She will probably wander round rosey to herself for a while (so do't worry about this), and it may take a few days before she stops being broody.  the other thing is, it may take some weeks before she starts to lay again.

Ihad a black Marans hen who wend broody, quite persistently for a week, before she snapped out of it, and she hasn't layed an egg since, and this was a month ago.  I'm hoping that she may shtart to lay again before the days get too short, but I'm really not holding my breath 

[jill247]

Thankyou for your advise i got her off the nest twice today She is a black rock. Tomorrow i can close the door and keep my eye on her as im at home all day. I hope your hen starts laying again and mine too.

[catm]

Hi, I have had trouble with broody hens this year and I tried a lot of ways to stop it from just lifting off to dipping in cold water....none of them worked and then my other hens started copying and I had 3 all trying to squash into one lay box and egg production basically zero. One of them reacted well to the chasing out of the coop but two remained stubborn so I decided to try the only method I hadn't....hang a wire bottom cage (dog cage) up in a tree/shed within sight or sound of others and with food and water in and put the broody chicken(s) in for 2 to 3 days and nights. Once their combs have returned to a beautiful full red they are generally ready to go back in their home....sounds harsh but they don't make a fuss and it WORKS!!. My friend thought it was a bit barbaric until her bird went broody and she couldn't stop it so she borrowed my cage and within 48 hrs dolly was back to her normal self.
Hopefully yours is off the brood now anyway but bare this technic in mind.... its the easiest way. They say that the longer the bird is broody the longer it takes to start laying again.

[Flossiej]

I have had two of my five go broody in the last six weeks. The first one lasted about a month and all we did was lift her out the nesting box as soon as the others had finished laying for the day and then shut the coop. This way we made sure she was getting her food and water each day. We opened the coop about an hour before bedtime and she zoomed straight in every time. Then we had a second one go broody so carried on with this procedure and finally the first girl has broken her broodiness and joined with the other girls so just the latest one to go. However still no egg from the first broody. I look at it this way, at least her body has had a rest and it's just natural behaviour for some hens so it didn't bother me too much. It's was just important that they got their food and water and then I could relax knowing that they weren't starving themselves for nothing. Hope you girl sorts herself out soon. Good luck!

[wildturkeybird]

'Barbara', our Bovans Nera became broody about 5 weeks ago.  She is only a young bird herself, having got her from a reputably breeder in early May this year when she was at POL and she was regularly laying up until she became broody. 

We initially took to removing her from the hen house at every opportunity, where she would take some water & pellets before the call of the nestbox became too much.   Locking her out was impossible, resulting in some quite amazing feats of chicken acrobatics & climbing skills Sir Edmund Hillary would of been proud of.     

Last week we finally resorted to making a plastic mesh frame that we placed into the nestbox - this worked a treat and after only 2 days she suddenly seemed to snap out of it & has now resumed being out with her chums again.  Although she is yet to restarted laying.

I'd say just be patient & don't worry too much.