I have 1 hen that spends her day stting on eggs in a laying box. When i remove her from box she goes onto the floor of coop and sets on nothing. I do not want to hatch any eggs. Any idea how i can break her of that habit?
Thanks, Ron

Is she laying? I'm curious because I think it matters if this is just what she likes to do with her day vs. if she has gone into setting mode and quit laying. There are some solutions for that one. Not sure how to break her if it's just what she likes to do. I have one hen that lays almost everyday but also sits there for many hours each day. She just enjoys it and it doesn't really matter to me so I don't worry about it. She'll sit on the golf balls I have in the nest all day long! And if anybody else gets in her nest while she's out of it, she'll hop up as close as she can get and wait until their done and then sit on their egg.

Susie

Susie, Some hens take quite a long time to lay their egg. But if she is broody, she will also stay on the nest all night and squeel and fluff at you when you look under her on the nest. You cannot "break" her, if she is setting, without removing her from the nests and all access to a nest!!! I do not want my fresh eggs kept warm all day, so it is not good to have a setting hen--not really hatching, but doing her thing. Remember, this is nothing she can do or stop doing--it is all Mother Nature's control. She can't help it, so be patient with her. CJR

I have had occasional problems with one of my chickens going broody, all I could do was keep going to the nesting box and taking her off it. I spent quite a lot of time marching around my land, holding this chicken, in order to find the other chickens so i could return her to the flock (my chickens have the run of about 10 acres of my land!) So, if nothing else all the walking kept me fit! But seriously, suddenly one day, after a week or two, she just wasnt broody anymore. I dont know what else to suggest really. I couldnt let my chicken sit in the nesting box all day, because it was the favourite one for all the chickens to use, and they would queue up wanting to use it!