How Can I Get A Hen UN Broody?

Sometime you can't just let a hen be broody. Without fertile eggs many Broodies will just stay broody until they die.
They will not give up until some baby chicks arrive. The fastest method to break a broody is a pair of day old chicks.
So you do have to do something. However many of the methods mentioned are ineffective and just plain cruel.
The only method I've heard working ( without giving chicks) consistently is a wire bottom cage(like a bird cage) with lots of extra food , treats and cold water.

We are down from 6 broody hens to one last stubborn Australorp. She has been broody before and usually gives up after a month. If I had known how many stubborn broodies I would have this year I would have held off on getting the chicks until the brooding had started.
Rue is on her 3rd week being broody so should be giving us soon.
Since the others have abandoned the idea the ones laying are able to finally put the eggs in the nest boxes.
I am glad that Rue is the only one brooding right now. Last year when she did this the other hens had a go at pulling feathers off her head to try and get her out of the nest they wanted.

Next year may be even more insane since several of the new chickens are of broody breeds as well.

Well, I won't get to try anything to un-broody-ify my hen. She was killed by a hawk a couple weeks ago. I was quite surprised, since our yard is so sheltered and there are few bird-eating hawks and many blue jays. Trust me, those wild birds help.

When 2 of my girls where broody (when i got back from hollidays) i took out all the eggs and got the hens out. But they kept coming back, even with no eggs to breed on.

In the evening i closed the small coop and they had to sleep with the other hen/pullets outside in another part of the coop/run wich is covered and has good sleeping branches. There is a lot of fresh air (2 sites open) in this covered run.

The next morning both broody hens where outside in the 'open' run. One got back to the nest in the afternoon. Therefore i closed the coop again in the evening.

Next day they where both un-broody.

Dutch bantams don' t have extreem broody characters. so it may not be enough for the broody types? For my dutch i prefer this method above the dog bench, water dips and some other tricks i have read about.

cluck333 said:

Well, I won't get to try anything to un-broody-ify my hen. She was killed by a hawk a couple weeks ago. I was quite surprised, since our yard is so sheltered and there are few bird-eating hawks and many blue jays. Trust me, those wild birds help.

Click to expand...

I'm sorry for your loss.

cluck333 said:

Well, I won't get to try anything to un-broody-ify my hen. She was killed by a hawk a couple weeks ago. I was quite surprised, since our yard is so sheltered and there are few bird-eating hawks and many blue jays. Trust me, those wild birds help.

Click to expand...

Sorry for your loss.. But I would also point out that a sheltered, as in tree protected, yards are probably worse when it comes to hawk predation.. What many people do not realize is that the commonly envisioned hawk soaring through the sky and swooping in for the kill is pretty rare compared to how it most commonly happens... Most hawks will often sit in the trees and wait before dropping in for the kill... Chicken eyesight is quite good, and if in an open area can see hawks from a VERY long way away, giving them time to head for decent shelter.. I've had my birds give warning and had to strain just to pick out the speck in the sky that they picked up on.... The sheltered yard gives the hawks a lot of camouflage to sit in and leisurely pick the morsel of their choice

MysteriaSdrassa said:

Sorry for your loss.. But I would also point out that a sheltered, as in tree protected, yards are probably worse when it comes to hawk predation.. What many people do not realize is that the commonly envisioned hawk soaring through the sky and swooping in for the kill is pretty rare compared to how it most commonly happens... Most hawks will often sit in the trees and wait before dropping in for the kill... Chicken eyesight is quite good, and if in an open area can see hawks from a VERY long way away, giving them time to head for decent shelter.. I've had my birds give warning and had to strain just to pick out the speck in the sky that they picked up on.... The sheltered yard gives the hawks a lot of camouflage to sit in and leisurely pick the morsel of their choice

Click to expand...

I know that bird hawks hunt by ambush, but none of the ones in my area are big enough to even pick up a Black Australorp, much less one as fat as my broody hen was. Her broodiness was making her less alert, and she never was the smartest chicken in the flock anyway (of course it would be hard to beat my smart Rhode Island Red named Pecker). I doubt they would recognize an avian predator, there are so many birds in the neighborhood that they know, including many raptors called Mississippi Kites (falcon-like reptile eaters, about crow-sized). A hawk would just be another bird to them probably. A bird big enought to pick up my hen would have likely crashed into one of the tall privacy fences surrounding my yard, wouldn't it? Her nest was very close to it, next to my shed.

cluck333 said:

I know that bird hawks hunt by ambush, but none of the ones in my area are big enough to even pick up a Black Australorp, much less one as fat as my broody hen was. Her broodiness was making her less alert, and she never was the smartest chicken in the flock anyway (of course it would be hard to beat my smart Rhode Island Red named Pecker). I doubt they would recognize an avian predator, there are so many birds in the neighborhood that they know, including many raptors called Mississippi Kites (falcon-like reptile eaters, about crow-sized). A hawk would just be another bird to them probably. A bird big enought to pick up my hen would have likely crashed into one of the tall privacy fences surrounding my yard, wouldn't it? Her nest was very close to it, next to my shed.

Click to expand...

Hawks don't pick up chickens and Cary them away, they usually just hit them hard and then eat what they can before leaving.

Kusanar said:

Hawks don't pick up chickens and Cary them away, they usually just hit them hard and then eat what they can before leaving.

Click to expand...

Well whatever it was, did try to carry her off. But it was not successful, because she was hanging in our privacy fence.