How to Break a Broody Hen

[MichelleObenaus]

I believe our Orpington has gone broody; She has all of the symptoms associated with broodiness. I've read discussion pages on broodiness and breaking it. We don't have a cage to put her in to break her. So I'm looking to plan B. I have some questions: Will it help her if I remove her from the nesting box each morning and only let her back in when night falls? We have a slide door that can securely lock her out of the nesting boxes. (I'd have to do this after the other ladies have laid for the day, of course). I did this today, because I wanted her to eat and drink, which she did right away. My second question is, if I lock her out of the nesting boxes during the day, will there be any lasting "damage" to her--psychologically or other? I assume she'll eventually "work through this." Am I wrong?
Thank you for your advice!

 

[bruceha2000]

I can't claim to be a chicken psychologist so I don't know about "lasting damage".

Are your girls so regular in laying that they "finish" by some specific time??? Mine lay any time of the day (and sometimes from the roost at night) depending on when the egg decides it is time to come out. If a hen didn't lay the day before, she is likely to lay early in the morning. The time of day the egg is laid on subsequent days continues to go later and later.

If you can get out there before the other girls start to lay, I would make the nests inaccessible to her at night, otherwise she will be sleeping in there and spending more than half her "day" hot on the nest in broody mode until you toss her when the other girls are done. That will make it harder to break her.

Your location isn't in your profile but if you are in an area that is cooling off (ie, not the south or south west), she might be easier to break IF you can keep her out of the nests. I have one that looks to be going broody (weird time of year when night time temps are down in the 30's and 40's). I've pulled the plastic eggs out of the nests. Of my broody girls, she seems to be one that (at least early on) will sit on an egg if there is one but will stay out if there aren't any. If she doesn't stay out, she will be visiting the broody buster again. Unfortunate because I recently removed it from the coop so the support structure could be used for roosting by the birds. Now that they have kind of sorted that out, removing the extra space won't be easy for them.

 

[MichelleObenaus]

Hi there! Thanks for the reply. We live in the Seattle Area, so yes the nights are getting cooler, as are the days. Fall is upon us!

I'll stay the course then, and lock her out after the other ladies have laid for the day. And, yes, our hens are like clockwork--all done by 11:30am. It's really rather convenient!

The great news is that yesterday afternoon, she freely ran around the yard with her flock. She was just fine being locked out. Of course, as soon as night fell and I let them all into the coop, they all hunkered down for the night and she hasn't been seen since. Poor little thing.

It's so great to have this forum. Thank you again for helping us through this!

 

[bruceha2000]

Glad to pass on any experiences I have had in case it helps someone. My little broody Cubalaya seems to be following true to form. Found her sitting on a real egg (not hers) 2 days ago and took it away from her. She has been off the nest since. Phew, might have dodged a trip to the buster! Cubalayas are not great layers, but she is in her pattern. Laid 7 eggs between 9/23 and 10/4, now she wants to sit eggs. In a "real world" environment with fertile eggs, that would be very natural. But there is no rooster and really, hatching chicks in October in Vermont?? Not the usual time of year.

 

[Kim N]

Thank you for passing along this wisdom to the rest of us! After reading your suggestions, I built a 12x12x30" wire crate of 2x2s, with a hinged 1/4" plywood top for a 6-mo old hen that had gone so intensely broody that she would not leave the nest box even to eat or drink. I had been taking her off twice daily for a bit of food and water, having to protect her from attacks from the others, who perceived her as sickly because of her listless, preoccupied behavior.

When I placed her in the crate with food and water, she immediately perked up and made up for lost time eating and drinking her fill, perfectly content in her private apartment. After 3 days, I put her outside in the enclosed yard. To facilitate her reintegration with the flock, I scattered lots of mixed seeds around the yard. By the time they had cleaned it all up, flock dynamics were completely back to normal, as if none of this had ever happened.

 

[Kim N]

To clarify: The advice I am referring to is that given in Post #1. It worked like a charm, with the hen content throughout the process. I mounted the wire crate to studs about 15" above the floor inside the coop. I plan to leave it there in case needed in the future. I covered the flat hinged top with vinyl flooring for easy cleanup of chicken poo.

 

[CuriousChicken]

Since I have an indoor hen I just take her diaper off, put her on top of the sleeping cage, turn a fan on her, make sure she has plenty of water and food. She gets un-broodie in a 2 or 3 days.

 

[pennynorsworthy]

W

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

well we put her in a kennel and left her in there for a few days and let her out and she is ok. When will she start laying again?

 

[smorris]

Hi Pennynorsworthy,

In my experience with my girls on average it takes about a week before they start laying again after being let out of the broody breaker. Good luck! Glad it seems to have worked well for you too!

 

[RedWolfTX]

And here we are just 2 months later, and my silly Buff Orp has gone broody again. Tomorrow she goes back into the Buster.