How to Break a Broody Hen

[rsomogye]

Do broody hens start laying again? I have a 2 year old broody hen. All my other chickens were killed by animals a month ago. She still is not laying.

Do you think she is lonely? She started going up on the porch with the cats. She never did that before.

 

[bruceha2000]

Do broody hens start laying again? I have a 2 year old broody hen. All my other chickens were killed by animals a month ago. She still is not laying.

Do you think she is lonely? She started going up on the porch with the cats. She never did that before.

If she is up on the porch with the cats, she isn't broody. In general mine have taken from 5 to 7 days to return to laying after their broody hormones let up.

Could be she just got the eggs scared out of her

when the others were killed (SERIOUS trauma) or she is going to moult, it is the right time of year for that for lots of chickens. I have 2 moulting right now.

In any case she should go back to laying but yes I would get some chicks. Chickens aren't solitary creatures. IF she goes true broody again (meaning you almost have to use a crowbar to get her off the nest), try getting some chicks and stick them under her LATE at night when it is REALLY dark. She might make a good mother. Check out the Mama Heating Pad thread for your backup in case she doesn't take the chicks or if she doesn't go broody in a timely fashion. Of course she won't be laying while she is mothering so you may be without eggs for months.

 

[rsomogye]

She was definitely broody. She would never get off the eggs when the other chickens were laying even at night. She still is not laying eggs even though they are dead. Thank you for the advice!!!

 

[RedWolfTX]

Thanks for the advice on how to break a hen from broodiness. My 9 mo old Buff Orp became broody this week. I went out and bought a 36"x36" wire rabbit cage from TSC, mounted it in the run off the ground, added a little feeder and a water cup that attaches to the wall.

Hopefully she'll cool down and snap out of the broodiness soon. I put her outside and she remained there for an hour or so with her flock before she started to get back to the nesting boxes. After the second attempt I put her in the cage. She's not a happy hen, and boy, do I feel guilty. Her buddy in the flock kept looking up at her, and finally flew up atop the cage. "Why are you in there?" "I don't know! GET ME OUT!"

Boy, do I feel guilty.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Aww, don't feel guilty! Better she spend a few days in the Broody Buster than several weeks or more of futile brooding. Though if you find this hen is frequently going broody every 3-6 months you may want to allow her to set a few eggs once in a while. Buff Orps tend to be a broody breed, though mine never have.

 

[RedWolfTX]

Aww, don't feel guilty! Better she spend a few days in the Broody Buster than several weeks or more of futile brooding. Though if you find this hen is frequently going broody every 3-6 months you may want to allow her to set a few eggs once in a while. Buff Orps tend to be a broody breed, though mine never have.

Thanks for the advice, Sunny!

 

[MesMama]

Thanks for this thread! Exactly what I came here looking for today I have a broody and since it's going into colder months I don't want her to hatch any chicks. I put her in a wire dog kennel with some food and water and...my mistake, which I now know from your thread here, BEDDING! Whoops! So of course she just made another nest in there and is sitting again...on imaginary eggs LOL! So, now I know I need to remove the bedding and put the kennel up onto something to let the air flow around it. Thank you!!!

 

[whittychick]

Aww, don't feel guilty!  Better she spend a few days in the Broody Buster than several weeks or more of futile brooding.  Though if you find this hen is frequently going broody every 3-6 months you may want to allow her to set a few eggs once in a while.  Buff Orps tend to be a broody breed, though mine never have.

My Buffs aren't either! Only my bantams! So weird

 

[pennynorsworthy]

thank you so much for this info. I thought I had a hen that was going nuts on me.
try this and let you know what happens! JESUS Bless you

 

[MesMama]

I have a hen that keeps going broody, like every 4-5 weeks

This would be great if it were April LOL! Anyway, I have been putting her in the broody breaker, but how do you know when they are ready to be allowed out? I don't know if I'm not keeping her in there long enough or what? It's usually a couple days and she's ready to be out of there, gets agitated when we're in there, pacing, squawking. So how do you know when to let them out of jail? How do you know when the broodiness has been broken?