How do you get a hen to be unbroody?

[Chatychick]

I have a young hen that is determined to stay broody...she is a silkie/banty mix and has wanted to stay on a nest with eggs that are layed that day ...I have tried to move her but it seems she is determined to stay on them. I remove the eggs each day but she will sit in a nest and wait till the other girls lay some and there she will go to that nest and sit on them...What can I do to get her over this ? She is a small little thing and its to cold here to hatch any so dont want to let her sit some either....Thanks for any help...

 

[MissPrissy]

Why is it too cold? She will know how to take care of them. She will keep them warm and teach them everything they need to know. Mother nature works really well when we humans stand back and do not interfere.

 

[Yogiman]

I agree whole heartedly with Miss Prissy. If you have fertile eggs, set her and enjoy the moment. She will instictively know exactly what to do far better than we can ever hope to do.

To me there is nothing more pleasing to the eye or more pleasurable than to watch a hen with her brood. They can bring you many moments of joy.

The banty in her will make her a devoted mama. You won't have any worries for them with her taking care of them and nurturing them. They will be in the best of care.

 

[PurpleChicken]

Quote:
Ok this is hard to explain but if you scrath their back in just the right spot they will
snap out of it.

Here is what you do:
Rub the hens head on the highest point while singing her a John Denver song.
Then when she starts to close her eyes scratch her for five minutes on her middle back.
After that, take some cooked rice, vegies, pasta, or scartch and put some in front
of her.
Once she eats it give her one last scratch on the back.
Now wait 25 days.

Good job.

 

[Yogiman]

And if you buy that remedy I've got a slightly used truck and a bridge I would like to talk to you about.

 

[Chatychick]

The only probelm around here is it gets down really cold and she decided to do this in the main coop and the eggs she chooses are almost as big as her...she is a tiny little thing and her twin sister or 1 like her isnt this way and cant figure out what is going on...she is trying to get her off that nest too... seh has been at this for a week and a half. I dont want her to get to thin as its cold here and the weather is so weird too. Cold 1 day then warm the next then dropping into the single digits the next...Maybe she will give up soon. Thanks

 

[PurpleChicken]

We had a Buff Orp go broody that we would just throw out of the egg box.
She gave up after a few days.

Now we have a silkie that is broody. She's keeping all the daily eggs from freezing.
We throw her out and she sneaks back in. It's like day 14 right now.

Chickens are like kids. They don't listen and do what they want.

I wouldn't worry about her being cold. Her body is probably naturally producing
more heat.

 

[tiki244]

I wouldnt want mine broody either because they get so thin and being bantys there isnt much there to begin with-put her in a cage up by the top of the coop and let some cold air blow up her bum for a day or two

or replace the eggs with ice cubes and she'll get the idea soon

 

[SillyChick]

Yes, I heard placing ice cubes(in ice packets or plastic bags) help turn off the chicken. Silkies are such broody creatures! They usually go broody for up to 3 months. (Then go broody again after awhile!)

Hope things turn well!

 

[karmical]

One of my Salmon Favs went broody about 2 weeks ago and no matter how many times I took her off of the nest (which was EMPTY!) she was obsessed with going back to it. I thought about getting in some fertile eggs, but I'm just not ready for chicks right now with my set-up, so I tried the "suspended cage" method of breaking up a broody. It worked!!! If you want to give it a try, here's what worked for us:

I got a "wire" dog crate and built a "stand" for it, so it was up off the ground about 2ft. The other birds could go in and out underneath, so I didn't lose much floor space. I put a 2x4 in the crate too (so she could feel like she had a roost, and to give her feet a break from the wire 'floor') and also put food and water in there so she could start eating and drinking normally again! I let her out the morning (so she could be with the others and get a dust bath and run around a bit) for about an hour, supervised (I spend about an hour down there with them visiting every AM anyways) and then back in the cage for the rest of the day and overnight. After about a week of that routine, she snapped out of it! She's still not back to laying eggs, but apparently it takes awhile after they go through a broody period to start layig again.

Thought I'd also mention that my Buff Rock started going broody just as my SF was coming out of it and I didn't wait, just put her right in the cage...SHE snapped out of it after only 3 days in the cage.

Hope that helps