First Broody Hen, Please Help!

[LeghornLisa]

Hello All, I need your help. I have a flock of 4 hens that are 8 months old. One of my girls has gone broody this afternoon, she has been in the nesting box on 2 eggs for the past 4 hours. What do I do? I don't have a rooster and they are obviously not going to hatch. I am planning on moving her out of the nesting box in the morning and taking the eggs. Is this the best thing to do?

 

[tinkarooni]

So I take it that you do not want her to be broody? I spent my whole summer trying to convince two Buff Orphingtons not be broody until I finally gave in and slipped some hatching eggs underneath them. I have no rooster either. You can search broody hen on here and get some great information, that's what I did.

At first I would remove her from the nest box everytime I caught her in there, and keep the eggs collected so that she doesn't have anything to sit on. If that doesn't work you can put her into a seperate box. I used a dog crate. Supply her with food and water but no bedding. A couple of days in there and mine gave up on the broodiness for a while and I put them back with the others. Unfortunately some breeds are broodier than others. I now choose breeds that are not usually broody. I got very few eggs from those two girls all summer and am re-homing them soon to somebody who wants to hatch out some eggs. Good Luck.

 

[LeghornLisa]

Thank you, no I don't want her to be broody when she doesn't have any eggs that will hatch. I would love to get some fertilized eggs and put them under her but I fear I would get a rooster, I can't have any roosters where I live. I had to re-home 2 roosters back in November and it broke my heart. I just want to get her out of the box without doing any harm.

 

[kcfuerst]

Let her "sit" for 20 days or so with some fake eggs under her. Then go to your feed store and pick up hatchling pullet or two, or three, and put them under your hen in the middle of the night when she's fast asleep. Remove the fake eggs.

When she gets up in the morning, make sure you are there to take pictures of her proud feathered butt as she boasts about her new babies. Babies, BTW, which she will protect to the death from any other hens. It will be a blast to watch how she raises them.

 

[Jonathanq1]

Yes that will work

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[fordmommy]

I have one too. I got some fertile eggs from another BYC member near me. 19 days from now, I hope I have some babies. We'll see.

Another thing you can do is just take the eggs every time and keep kicking her out of the nesting box. After a few days she SHOULD get the hint. Some people have taken their broodys and put them in a wire cage with no nesting material for a few days. That helps too.

 

[LeghornLisa]

Ok guys, here is what I did. I didn't have the heart to move her out of the box last night. I just when out and picked her up and took the one egg she was sitting on. She didn't fight me and went right over to the food and began eating. I would love to go get a few pullets and put them under her but I have already placed my order and they are not arriving until March 8th. I can only really have 8 hens in my coop without over crowding, and with 4 more arriving in March, that will make 8. For now I will just keep moving her and taking the eggs. Funny thing is, I am home during the day and spend a lot of time out with the girls and removing the egg right away. I didn't realize a hen could go broody at 8 months old. Thanks for all your help and I will keep you posted on Sugarsnap.