Broody bantams

[possum]

we have five hens and a rooster.
One hen lays every day in the nest box
three are too young to lay

the last one is a pain in the neck - she has a great personality, likes being stroked, comes for walks with you ......but

she will not lay in the nest box and for the second time we have found a nest. The first time there were 20 eggs, this time nearer 30 . But she isn't sitting on them. THe person we got her from says she is known to go broody often, but why isn't she sitting on them?

any solutions - ideally we want the eggs rather than chicks, but chicks would be better than neither.

[Tigerhair]

possum, are they free range? If so, I would suggest you create a home for them and keep them in until after lunch time when they will have probably laid (where you want them to!) Good luck

[possum]

Unfortunately keeping them in till after lunch is not an option, we both leave for work first thing and don't get back till after they are back in their house at the moment (winter here).
At the moment they are completely free range as the grass is all gone in their run, but that doesn't make much different as this particular hen even with clipped wings flies over the fence, she nicely hangs round waiting for you to open the gate for her to get back into the house in the evenings though.