How to Break a Broody Hen

[4Hgirl]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone! I have a rock that went broody and sat on eggs for three weeks and Japanese joined her a week into it and they co-sat. The eggs didn't hatch so I took them away. The japanese had one or two days of being sad and then moved right along and is laying again this week. It has been about two weeks off the nest. But the darn Rock can't move on. I took that nesting box away and she has been going to a spot in my flower garden. I take her out as often as possible. I put her in coop at night and she roosts but every day back to the flower garden. She has gotten so thin despite me putting food and water in with her old nesting box but i refuse to pamper her in her new spot. I don't want to encourage the behavior now. I just put an ice pack in the spot and got her with the other girls and fed them all their favorite treat-dried meal worms. She ate them and then went back to her spot! Just checked and she making a new spot right next to the ice pack. Ugg I need to get a wire crate now.

 

[dr1939]

How do you break them when you don't have a rabbit or parrot type cage? I can't block off the nests because the other three chickens could not get to them to lay their eggs. We have no roosters so she cannot hatch any eggs. What to do??????

 

[bruceha2000]

My Hens have been in their nesting boxes for 3 months and they will not come out of the broodiness for nothing.I've tried placing them in ice cold water I tried spraying them down. I dont know what else to do.....they are very determined to sit and sit and sit. Their combs are not pink anymore. Any suggestions other then confining them in a wired cage I have 5 that have been like this for awhile. I did get rid of the rooster because he would attack me everytime I went out of my house. I have Bantam Cochins.

They will likely NOT break if you let them hang in the nest and wait them out. It just reenforces the need to "brood" and keeps them hot underneath. My latest effort included letting the bird stay on the nest but I put re-freezable ice packs under her and put her in the broody box at night. She thawed 2 a day for 2 days before she broke and she had been in the box 24 hours a day for 5 days before that. You would THINK it would be uncomfortably cold. It is really hard to break them in the summer. The cold air under them in the elevated (4' up) broody box usually does the trick pretty well in the winter.

Lol I am such a newbie.... I got on here to check out how to get my girl Stella off the nest and I guess she was just laying an egg!! She just came running out as I went to get her...

That was first time we caught one laying! Egg number 5...... So exciting.....
WE LOVE OUR GIRLS

Don't jump to the "she is broody" conclusion TOO fast! It takes a while for the eggs to come out. Sometimes a girl will sit there for an hour or more and might stay awhile after. It has to be a lot of "work" laying eggs. They might be going broody if they sit there all day, but they might also be "hiding" from an aggressive flock mate. When they really are going broody they won't come off the nest for treats or at roost time. They will flatten out as you approach, might flare their feathers and growl at you.

Like the "squat" you know it once you've seen it.

 

[CHICKENRANCH14]

UPDATE. Okay last week my golden laced Cochin hen went broody. Although she didn't get all huffy and puffy she would not leave the nest. SO once again I took her out in the morns and had her free range while other girls were getting morning treats and able to lay in the nest. I already returned neighbors soccer balls, so I scoured around the house to find things to stuff in the nests at night. I took her in with little chicks, who by the way are 3 months old now and pretty big, except the silkies. She was kinda lay back for a whole 2 minutes with me in there so I took her back out. Three days out of coop and seeing what all she was missing out on, and she was ready to go back in. She did fine during day but I still stuffed nests at night for the next week. Not sure how many this will work on in my chicken family but I will try it out until it doesn't

 

[apollo]

I was reading a post the other day and in there it said that the other hens will kill the babie chicks.... is this true... and how long can a hen brood with out being heart or will they stay there for ever????

 

[bruceha2000]

I was reading a post the other day and in there it said that the other hens will kill the babie chicks.... is this true... and how long can a hen brood with out being heart or will they stay there for ever????

The discussion here is girls that are sitting on nests with no fertile eggs. They have this horrible hormonal "need" to "hatch" something whether it is a real egg, fake egg or the nesting material. This is NOT good for them because they don't eat or drink properly.

With regard to a hen that is actually sitting on fertile eggs and then brooding the chicks - whole different story. I don't have experience in that area but I think some people have a separate area they keep the girls who are brooding chicks if possible, then let the hen introduce the kids back into the flock. You'll have to check in the hatching threads for people who know what they are talking about.

 

[chicknmom]

I've read through 3 pages of comments on this thread - and couldn't spend the time to read through the zillion others, soplease forgive me if this has already been answered.

The cage method has worked well for my broodies so far. But I have one girl broody for the third time in about as many months, and this time it is NOT working - she's been in the cage for 8 or 9 days so far and is still determined. I am considering finding some fertile eggs, but don't really want more hens and don't want to deal with roosters.

I have heard that I can dunk her in ice-cold water, but that seems awfully harsh and cruel.

Any other ideas??

Thanks

 

[Sunny Side Up]

You can try the cold water method, it needn't be near freezing, just cold enough to be felt. Just swish her undercarriage through the water, like she is a ducky tub toy you are pretending to make swim. Then let her loose in the yard to dry off & preen. This may do the trick to reprogram her inner computer.

Otherwise, if you have a truly determined broody, on that Ma Nature is urging to set, why not accommodate her instincts? You can ask other poultry keepers in your area if they have fertile eggs they'd like to have hatched. Your hen can do her thing and after 4-6 weeks when she's ready to leave the babies you can give them back to the person who gave you the eggs. Your hen can hatch any kind of chicken egg, also ducks, geese, turkeys, & guineas.

 

[Calichickens78]

We have 4 hens who enjoy full access to our back yard. I built them an amazing coop with comfy nesting boxes filled with pine shavings. When one of the girls goes broody, I have a 3'x3'x4' wire cage raised up by cinder blocks that works great as a breaker. I've used it several times with much success and the girls don't seem to mind spending a few days in there when it's their turn. We keep a careful eye on their food and water levels and make sure they are happy while they are being broken.

The other day, a nosy neighbor was peeking through our fence and threatened to call the humane society after she saw Doc in the cage while the other birds got to run around the yard. I explained to her that this was a common practice and she is perfectly safe and comfortable but the woman wouldn't let it go. Obviously she needs to mind her own business but I was wondering if anyone has heard of the humane society objecting to this technique. I'd like to be able to tell this woman to put an egg in her shoe and beat it. Thoughts?

 

[CHICKENRANCH14]

I have seen many other posts in this thread that do this same practice and seems to work for them. I myself have not had yo use this. So far just having them around my younger chicks for a bit seemed to help. They are several months old and it is a supervised visit. I would say your neighbor needs to get a life. Or you could offer her a free dozen of eggs and tell her the eggs are not possible without helping the hen get through her period. Much luck on the neighbor sounds to me like you have the process down correctly. As far as humane society I am sure if they do come out and see how well everything is taken care of, all will be fine.