Broody Maran?

[hedgehogsdad]

Hi,

One of my Marans has (I think) gone broody. She refuses to come out of the coop, and if I take her out, she circles around me and finds her way back in. She sits tight on any eggs in the coop, but also stays there when there are none. She seems to be eating (I've just felt pellets and corn in her crop as I picked her out yet again) and when she's out with the other hens seems healthy.

Assuming she is broody (are Marans susceptible?), how do I get her to stop?

My previous experience was with a Hamburg bantam and a Cream Legbar, both who were broody but were laying and sitting in a nearby hedge, where destroying their "nest" did the trick.

All suggestions gratefully received

Many thanks

 

[darkbrowneggs]

Marans are a brooding breed whereas Cream Legbars are not.

Marans do generally make good and careful mothers and in fact the old time gamekeepers often used them for hatching and rearing pheasants But if you are determined to break any broody the best method is a wire dog cage or similar up on bricks so she cannot sit on the floor - Provide normal food and clean water.

Most of the old ways don't work and are less than kind.

It usually takes about a week to ten days to break them of it, and a week or two for them to get back into lay.

Don't return them until you are certain they are back to normal or they will just sit immediately. Even when broken they will probably lay for a month or less then start broodiness again