Breaking Broody

[MarlaMac]

One of my Black Australorps has gone broody, again. She wants to sit at least two times a year. Her mothering skills are phenomenal. She has had 3 clutches so far. The only issue is the cockerels. It is such a hassle to get ride of them. If she would only hatch females lau) I would let her sit on and hatch her clutch.

I don't need pullets at the moment; so, I am breaking her. Here is how it is going thus far.

Day one - removed any an all eggs (including the fake ones) from under her the moment they were gathered/deposited. Nope.

Day two - removed any an all eggs (including the fake ones) from under her the moment they were gathered/deposited and sat with her in my lap with frozen peas at her belly. Nope. Stayed in lay box all night.

Day three (today): Got out broody breaker jail and set it up. Ice in the bottom half and only 1/4 inch hardware cloth to stand on (it is twisty-tied to a pen panel so it is sturdy. Food and water in with her, of course. I will keep her in this all day then let her out to range with the others before lock up time and see what she does. If she return to the lay box, then I will repeat today's plan, but for a full 24 hours.

We shall see how this goes. Wish me luck. I know it is only a matter of wills at this point.

 

[aart]

Have you considered rehoming her to someone who needs a broody hen?

I did this with one who I broke 6-7 times over a summer after I let her hatch in the spring. New owners were thrilled, but she never went broody again.

 

[aart]

I leave them in the breaker crate for at least 48 hours.
IMO best to release them an hour or 2 before roost time, then if I find them in a nest at lockup they go right back into the breaker crate for another 48 hours. That way they haven't gotten so settled into the nest.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am following along.
I just put my girl in broody jail. She is not happy with me!
Last night I locked her out of the nest and put her on the roost. But as soon as she was able she was right back on the nest so early morning I hauled her off and put her here.
I have never been through this before so am anxious about it.
View attachment 3802106

If the breaker cage location is safe for overnight stay, you're better off leaving her in there for at least 48 hours straight, and then depending on behavior, extending it out 24 hrs at a time as you go.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I am feeling cautiously optimistic. She hasn’t gone back to the nest. But she has made some broody noises and I worry she is looking for alternative nest sites!

As long as she stays out of the nests that's the main thing. Sometimes even when they're broken enough to not go sit in the nests they'll still make a few broody sounds, or puff up on occasion, and you don't need to cage them for that.

 

[Insnesnakos]

I've seen one of my black australorps kind of broody too. I removed the eggs and carried her outside but she kept going back in

 

[Australorpfamily]

Have you looked into donating to a local 4H? Our first hatch was 4 out of 6 were roos and it took me forever to get rid of 3, and the last one, at 18weeks old goes to our local 4H auction this Sat lol just a thought.

 

[RoyalChick]

One of my Black Australorps has gone broody, again. She wants to sit at least two times a year. Her mothering skills are phenomenal. She has had 3 clutches so far. The only issue is the cockerels. It is such a hassle to get ride of them. If she would only hatch females lau) I would let her sit on and hatch her clutch.

I don't need pullets at the moment; so, I am breaking her. Here is how it is going thus far.

Day one - removed any an all eggs (including the fake ones) from under her the moment they were gathered/deposited. Nope.

Day two - removed any an all eggs (including the fake ones) from under her the moment they were gathered/deposited and sat with her in my lap with frozen peas at her belly. Nope. Stayed in lay box all night.

Day three (today): Got out broody breaker jail and set it up. Ice in the bottom half and only 1/4 inch hardware cloth to stand on (it is twisty-tied to a pen panel so it is sturdy. Food and water in with her, of course. I will keep her in this all day then let her out to range with the others before lock up time and see what she does. If she return to the lay box, then I will repeat today's plan, but for a full 24 hours.

We shall see how this goes. Wish me luck. I know it is only a matter of wills at this point.

I am following along.
I just put my girl in broody jail. She is not happy with me!
Last night I locked her out of the nest and put her on the roost. But as soon as she was able she was right back on the nest so early morning I hauled her off and put her here.
I have never been through this before so am anxious about it.

 

[MarlaMac]

I am following along.
I just put my girl in broody jail. She is not happy with me!
Last night I locked her out of the nest and put her on the roost. But as soon as she was able she was right back on the nest so early morning I hauled her off and put her here.
I have never been through this before so am anxious about it.
View attachment 3802106

Good luck!

 

[MarlaMac]

Epic broody jail fail today. About halfway through the day, I noticed that the gal I had in jail pooped and it was not a broody poop. So I let her out and she joined the flock.

I have all Black Australorps so it gets kind of confusing.

Looked in the lay boxes and there was another girl. When my husband got home we tagged her so we know who she is. Let her down in the coop and she did the whole broody pose and grumble past rooster, raced out to the food, grumbled at everyone, ate super fast, got some water and wattled back to the lay box griping the entire time.

She will go into the broody cage. I will keep her there for at least 24 hours, if not 48.