How do I deal with broody hens?

Unless your chicken has fertile eggs to hatch, you will need to take action to stop her broody behaviour, otherwise it could go on for weeks on end and she may become poorly.   In order to break the broody behaviour you will need to remove the hen from the eggs and the coop and pop her in a broody cage.  A broody cage is a simple cage (a dog cage or similar will do the trick) where your hen can be separated from her “chicks” to break the broody habits – it needs no cosy corners or dark areas to stop broody behaviour.  Each broody hen needs to be in an individual cage and this cage should be placed in the run so the hen can still see and interact with the rest of the flock.  Broody hens have a higher body temperature and tend to pluck out their feathers to help them incubate their eggs, therefore one of the main objectives of the broody cage is to cool them down.  Therefore ensure the cage has ventilation around it e.g. pop it on some bricks to enable the hen to cool down gradually.  Keep her in the cage for at least 3 days without letting her out to stop the habitual behaviour.  Always ensure they have plenty of food and water.