Another broody

[drdoct]

We had a broody hen. So we put her in our tsc cage and let her hatch 3 chicks. Now the chicks are 5 weeks old. Broody mom has laid 2 eggs but still mothering them.

Now we have another broody. We have tried putting her in a cage with wire floor to give her nothing to heat up against. But on day 4 she's still puffed out and acting up. Should I take out old momma hen and put new broody with 5 week old chicks and see if thats good enough? Just trying to not have chicks in November.

 

[sourland]

I'd keep her in the broody cage. Some are tougher to 'break' than others.

 

[HumbleAmerican]

Broody break her. Make sure wire cage has airflow underneath it. She will break.

 

[IvysAnimals]

If you don't want any more babies, remove the eggs from under her and you can try a safe cage. Most chickens will end up killing their or other babies, even if they're broody. The best thing is to not risk the chicks' lives and to just let the broody girls calm down and remove any eggs that they chose to try and incubate.

 

[NatJ]

Should I take out old momma hen and put new broody with 5 week old chicks and see if thats good enough?

That will probably not work, for several reasons:

--It is too soon to give her chicks. A hen usually needs to be broody for a few weeks before she is ready to mother chicks.

--The chicks are too old. A hen will often accept just-hatched chicks, but usually not ones that are several weeks old.

--The chicks know who their mother is, and will probably not respond properly to a different broody.

Having said all that, I will acknowledge: chickens are individuals. There is a chance it would work with some hens and some chicks. I just think the chance of success is very low.

 

[drdoct]

I'll just keep her in jail. She has airflow and has been roosting. Just still broody.Her jail is on the left

 

[HumbleAmerican]

You can release her each evening toward roosting time. If she dives into her old nest then she’s sentenced to another day in jail. If she roosts with the rest then she is good to go.

 

[rosemarythyme]

If she's being difficult to break you might want to move her elsewhere for just a day (somewhere safe of course, wherever you might have available like garage, shed, other fenced in area, house, etc.), to unsettle her more. That shouldn't be long enough to disrupt pecking order too much, but hopefully the change of scenery will help.