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broody not eating or drinking well

post #1 of 6
6/20/12 at 9:36pm
Thread Starter 

Help! I have  SUPER broody 2 year old Australorp who did not eat/drink well today. I have had her seperated and in a wire dog kennel set up on two milk crates with food and water for 8 days now. The bars are spaced fairly widely, so I put 1/4 inch hardware cloth for her to sit on. At night I am putting her on the roosting bar with the others in the coop. Every morning I find her sitting right next to the nest boxes (which I block off at night) sitting on nothing. Until now it has only been a pain to deal with, but now I'm a little worried since I returned home to find not much food/water gone, and very little stool under her cage. What am I doing wrong? Is the 1/4 hardware cloth too comfortable for her feet? Should I not be putting her in the coop to roost at night? Should I worry that she could become sick with dehydration? I only have 3 hens (no roosters) and I need them to be good layers. She started going broody already once this spring, but I broke her within the first 48 hours of showing any signs, and she resumed laying in about a week. This time, I noticed her being moody for a few weeks leading up to this, but the fist day I found her sitting on the eggs past sunset, I had the broody cage waiting for her the next morning. And now it's been 8 days of full on growling, puffing up and sitting on nothing Last summer (the first time it happened) I broke her in a bout three days, but she didn't start laying again for about three weeks post. What else can I try? Short of getting out the stockpot, I mean... 

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post #2 of 6
6/21/12 at 5:33am

She won't resume normal eating/drinking until she's completely broken her broodiness.

It's too bad you don't have any fertile eggs to put underneath her.

Some of us would kill for a broody hen so determined.

 

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ƸӜƷ•.¸¸.•´¯`•.¸¸.☆

Have Katahdin hair sheep, Silkies, Guineas, Egg Layers, 3 Papillons, 1 toy Poodle, 1 Husband, 2 Cornish Rex cats,

1 aquatic turtle, 2 Kangals and 2 Grt Pyrs on 15 acres of joy.

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post #3 of 6
6/21/12 at 9:24am

I have the same problem except I have 6 doing this too me!! I have tried everything. I would LOVE to give them all eggs to sit on but I can't because I have ended up with way too many roosters by doing that in the past.  I would say you might have to fix her some scrambled egg just to make sure she is eating. I give mine water with vitamin and electrolyte powder in it. I dip pieces of bread in the water and they eat it up.

Let me know if you figure something out!! Mine are really stubborn and are not giving in!
 

Be like the bird who halting in his flight, on limb too slight, feels it give way beneath him,yet sings knowing that he hath wings!
Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work,and a full reward be given thee by the Lord God,under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Never thought I could be so obsessed with chickens! My daughter and I are blessed w/ 29 wonderful girls and boys! 4 BO's, 2 Black stars,...

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Be like the bird who halting in his flight, on limb too slight, feels it give way beneath him,yet sings knowing that he hath wings!
Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work,and a full reward be given thee by the Lord God,under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Never thought I could be so obsessed with chickens! My daughter and I are blessed w/ 29 wonderful girls and boys! 4 BO's, 2 Black stars,...

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post #4 of 6
6/23/12 at 8:48pm
Thread Starter 

Your comment got me thinking that Ishould probably try to get her to adopt chicks from the local feed store. I was originally afraid to introduce disease to the existing 3 hens, but it seems like people do this all the time with descent results. I think we will build her her own small coop and run to raise the chicks in. Thanks for the comment! It was inspiring......

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post #5 of 6
6/23/12 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 

6 broodies? Yikes! This whole thing got to be so much trouble, I decided that one way or another she was going to earn her keep. We've decided to try and have her adopt baby chicks from the local feed store. I really hope it works out! If not, we will raise them ourselves like we did this group of 3...Good luck with your girls!

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post #6 of 6
6/28/12 at 1:29pm

So how is it going with the baby chicks? When it got 105 degrees here all 6 flew the coop and headed for the wooded area to stay cool an haven't gone back!! So right now no more broodies for me :)
 

Be like the bird who halting in his flight, on limb too slight, feels it give way beneath him,yet sings knowing that he hath wings!
Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work,and a full reward be given thee by the Lord God,under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Never thought I could be so obsessed with chickens! My daughter and I are blessed w/ 29 wonderful girls and boys! 4 BO's, 2 Black stars,...

Reply

Be like the bird who halting in his flight, on limb too slight, feels it give way beneath him,yet sings knowing that he hath wings!
Ruth 2:12 The Lord recompense thy work,and a full reward be given thee by the Lord God,under whose wings thou art come to trust.
Never thought I could be so obsessed with chickens! My daughter and I are blessed w/ 29 wonderful girls and boys! 4 BO's, 2 Black stars,...

Reply
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