Broody Hen, HELPPPP!!!

Cusas Cluckers

Hatching
Oct 1, 2015
7
0
7
CT, USA
Hey guys so one of my hens just started laying eggs and I was very excited as you can imagine! Well within a day of finding my first egg produced by one of my 10 hens, one of those hens went broody.

I do have a rooster and in the spring I plan to try and hatch some eggs, but right now I would like this broody hen to be laying instead of sitting. Can you help me with a couple strategies as to how to break her from this broody state?

Thank you!!
 
Hey guys so one of my hens just started laying eggs and I was very excited as you can imagine! Well within a day of finding my first egg produced by one of my 10 hens, one of those hens went broody.

I do have a rooster and in the spring I plan to try and hatch some eggs, but right now I would like this broody hen to be laying instead of sitting. Can you help me with a couple strategies as to how to break her from this broody state?

Thank you!!
5 White Leghorn Hens - 5 RIR Hens - 1 Happy rooster (WL)
 
Are you positive she's broody?
Sometimes new layers will sit around on the nest before and after laying for an hour or so.
Is she staying on the nest 24/7, day and night, only getting off once a day to eat, drink and poop?
Is she hissing and growling at you from her flattened out stance in the nest?
Does she try to peck you when you take the eggs out form under her?

If the answer to all those questions is yes, then you may indeed have a broody.


My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Water nipple bottle was added after pic was taken.
 
Thank you!!

She actually got off her eggs. I believe she was just sitting there like you said because she just started laying. I appreciate all your advice and I will make note so if one does indeed end up broody!!
 

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