How to Break a Broody Hen

[Aunt LoLo]

Ugh. I feel so guilty! After a week of broody (in my blue wyandotte), I finally rounded up an old rabbit cage. I put her in, and she is..not happy. She's pacing around, knocking her feed over, trying to open the cage door. She saw her sisters all go to bed (bedtime was about 30 minutes ago), and she wants IN to the coop. My coop isn't big enough to accomadate a rabbit cage inside, so she will just have to suck it up and sleep in the yard, locked in her little jail cell. Breaks my heart. :-( But I have four girls, and all four use the same nesting box. (I have more...they just all refuse to use anything else.) With a daily ration of eggs to sit on, I didn't think the wyandotte would EVER break herself! (We have no rooster, and really don't want to hatch chicks right now.)

 

[pemphredo]

well my same hen that went broody not even 2 months ago that I let hatch out some eggs....... yet again went broody.... I hope she doesn't make this a habit.... I did not let her hatch eggs this time. I placed her in the broody buster for 2 days and removed her today. it busted her broody.

 

[albchickenfarm]

Thank you! My bantam started back to laying yesterday!

 

[oktx]

Question: do they have to stay in this during the day too or can I let her out to forage? I can lock her out of the coop so she can't go into the nesting area. She is making a hell of a racket out there and the bad part is that we are not technically allowed to have chickens here. I guess the worst that could happen is we have to get rid of them which I don't really like them all that much anyway. I prefer the quail as they are much quieter and complain and fuss a lot less.

 

[oktx]

Question: do they have to stay in this during the day too or can I let her out to forage? I can lock her out of the coop so she can't go into the nesting area. She is making a hell of a racket out there and the bad part is that we are not technically allowed to have chickens here. I guess the worst that could happen is we have to get rid of them which I don't really like them all that much anyway. I prefer the quail as they are much quieter and complain and fuss a lot less.

OK, well she shut up for now so I'm leaving her in there. *crossing fingers* This is day 4 of broodiness and day 1 of the buster. I have just been locking her out of the coop during the day but it was having no effect as she would still go in and sleep on her pile of imaginary eggs at night.

 

[philipchickymad]

this is probablya stupid question but does the cage need to have holes in it to let air get in from the bottom

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

All the stuff I've read says that the cage should have holes on the bottom to get air circulating up under the hen. But my BO is HUGE and I just feel awful making her stand on wire for days and days. So I just put her in the dog crate normal on the plastic bottom. All four sides and the top are wire. I put down a few paper towels so I can quickly remove the poops. And this seems to work just fine for me. She just stands in there and never tries to make a nest.

I'll also add that I knew my hen was starting to go broody but waited till she was truly broody. Went out last night at 10pm and she was in a nest box. Bingo. Pulled her out and put her into the ready to go dog crate in the garage. And that worked GREAT. I think at night, she's sleepy and has no will to fight and wakes up the following morning and just accepts her fate.

So try pulling the broody out well after dark and not in the middle of the day to put them in Broody Jail.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

You know I never thought of that. Whenever I have to make any changes to a broody hen that I want to stay broody I do it well after sunset. So it makes sense to also do that to a broody whose spell you're trying to break. It should make it less stressful for the hen. After dark they're more oblivious to their surroundings, more accepting of the circumstances in which they find themselves by morning's light.

And yes, there is something to the effect of having good airflow from up underneath, that's why you also put the wire-bottomed cage UP on something or hang it from rafters. It's so opposite to what they want for broodiness, laying close to the ground in the shade.

I don't think it would hurt even a heavy chicken to stand on wire for a few days. You could even put in a roost for more comfort, just no bedding. When you go to poultry shows there are all sorts of birds housed on wire floors, even big geese & turkeys. It might mean the difference between your hen staying confined to the Broody Buster for just a few days or a week.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Yes, I know you are right about the wire floor. I just feel bad. And she did have a sore on her foot a few weeks back that still has a scab and the vet said to keep her on soft bedding. And in case you can't tell, this hen is my FAVORITE. She's just so special to me. And I feel bad already for putting her in a cage.

If I crack the garage door an inch or two, we get this fabulous cool breeze that comes off the bay that skims across the garage floor and helps keep her cool. And yes, she has a roost inside the crate for her to perch on and she does.

She's still REALLY broody tonight. It's usually takes three days and nights, once it took four. So HOPEFULLY, by this weekend, she's back to her old self.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Oh I understand how special hens can hold so much of your heart! If this hen keeps going broody why don't you let her hatch something some time?