tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730441.post114733055245857640..comments2022-07-20T00:01:31.415-07:00Comments on HAPPY CHICKENS - THE STORY OF AN URBAN FLOCK: Introducing Broody Henhappy gardening mamahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17215588858062592639noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730441.post-56181274179506844692009-07-07T00:55:54.746-07:002009-07-07T00:55:54.746-07:00Hello chicken sitter, I apologize for the long del...Hello chicken sitter, I apologize for the long delay in responding. Hopefully by now you have an answer, but for other visitors I'll reply because we've seen this as well.<br /><br />If you have a very persistent broody hen, and it's gotten to the point where the nest and perhaps even that hen stinks, I would remove all the eggs, and throw out the old nesting material. In fact, you might want to have a clean of the entire coop to change the smell in the area.<br /><br />Depending upon the breed of hen you have brooding, sometimes a good clean up of the nest & coop can break a broody hen. I did this recently with one of our Light Brahmas--she had very persistently been nesting on what turned into a stinky mess, and she herself began to smell awful.<br /><br />Cleaning up the nest, and the entire coop, as well as thoroughly washing the nesting boxes made a huge difference.<br /><br />Not all hens will respond this way, however. We have had some Buff Orpingtons be extremely, extremely persistent with their broodiness. One was so committed that we actually tried dunking her (not her head though) in a bucket of water to dramatically lower her temperature.<br /><br />I don't know if I would recommend that in all but the most extreme cases. What we have seen over time is that our broody hens were much more rigidly broody when young, but as they aged, they became less intense about it.happy gardening mamahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17215588858062592639noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12730441.post-24139386400962386872008-05-28T16:03:00.000-07:002008-05-28T16:03:00.000-07:00My broody hen has been sitting on 10 eggs for 23+ ...My broody hen has been sitting on 10 eggs for 23+ days. There are 4 eggs remaining. They are covered with eggshells and yolk. The nest smells bad. What should I do? The hen continues to sit on the eggs.chicken sitterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07274205227223596335noreply@blogger.com