How to Break a Broody Hen

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Here is my broody hen,an amber link.She sleeps in the nest box at night and poops all over it I hope this works!

 

[bruceha2000]

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Here is my broody hen,an amber link.She sleeps in the nest box at night and poops all over it I hope this works!

Is she broody or is she simply sleeping in the nest box? TOTALLY different thing. Does she stay out of the nest during the day? Are your nest boxes LOWER than your roosts? If not, I can almost guarantee you will have birds sleeping in them. They want to sleep as high as they can get.

 

[9d84runner]

I have a question about this. I finally put her in the cage yesterday but I'm not sure how to keep it off the ground. It is a dog crate that has a pan on the bottom that I have taken out. It was large squares on the bottom and she sort of falls right thru. I put it on the ground because she kept falling thru and I didn't want her to hurt herself. She also keeps knocking her food and water over so I need to zip tie it to the side for her. Can it be on the ground or is the whole point so their is air going up thru the bottom.

Also should I just leave her in there for 3 days or let her out and see what she does? She seems a little more normal since she started being broody but I don't want to mess anything up. She did however puff up a little when I checked on her this morning. I attached a picture and you can see how large the squares on the bottom are.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

Just put a 4x4 in there for her to stand on. That wire is not good for her feet. It looks like there will be enough circulation under her. I put mine in the cage at night and put her out to free range during the day. I keep the run closed, but of course that means whenever one of the other chickens starts squawking to go in to nest I have to run out there and let them in and out. It's usually only for two days though and I'm home all day. If your not home keep her in the cage but put something in there for her to stand on.

 

[9d84runner]

Just put a 4x4 in there for her to stand on. That wire is not good for her feet. It looks like there will be enough circulation under her. I put mine in the cage at night and put her out to free range during the day. I keep the run closed, but of course that means whenever one of the other chickens starts squawking to go in to nest I have to run out there and let them in and out. It's usually only for two days though and I'm home all day. If your not home keep her in the cage but put something in there for her to stand on.

Ok, I put one sort of in the middle. Of course she is avoiding it like its some sort of evil thing. She will learn to stand on it? Before I put her in her "punishment cage" I let her free range and little and for about 2 hours she acted normal eating bugs and had a dirt bath but after that she ran for her life into the coop. Does that mean my torture process might not be so long. I feel really bad having her in there but it needs to be done.

 

[Little Fuzzy]

Don't feel bad. With my first Broody I did not want to use the cage, so I let her work it out herself, NOT! She was on the nest for almost two months and lost a lot of weight. I finally got the cage and she was broke in two nights. Five months later she went broody again after my Silkie went broody. I put them both in the cage together at night, locked out of coop during day. Two nights in chicken jail was enough! Your chicken will get on the roost at night for sure.

 

[bruceha2000]

I have a question about this. I finally put her in the cage yesterday but I'm not sure how to keep it off the ground. It is a dog crate that has a pan on the bottom that I have taken out. It was large squares on the bottom and she sort of falls right thru. I put it on the ground because she kept falling thru and I didn't want her to hurt herself. She also keeps knocking her food and water over so I need to zip tie it to the side for her. Can it be on the ground or is the whole point so their is air going up thru the bottom.

Also should I just leave her in there for 3 days or let her out and see what she does? She seems a little more normal since she started being broody but I don't want to mess anything up. She did however puff up a little when I checked on her this morning. I attached a picture and you can see how large the squares on the bottom are.

I would fit some 1/2" hardware cloth on the floor. Might be hard to ensure there are no sharp bits, maybe run some Gorilla Tape around the outside of the "sheet" of hardware cloth before you put it in.

 

[sharol]

I have a question about this. I finally put her in the cage yesterday but I'm not sure how to keep it off the ground. It is a dog crate that has a pan on the bottom that I have taken out. It was large squares on the bottom and she sort of falls right thru. I put it on the ground because she kept falling thru and I didn't want her to hurt herself. She also keeps knocking her food and water over so I need to zip tie it to the side for her. Can it be on the ground or is the whole point so their is air going up thru the bottom.

Also should I just leave her in there for 3 days or let her out and see what she does? She seems a little more normal since she started being broody but I don't want to mess anything up. She did however puff up a little when I checked on her this morning. I attached a picture and you can see how large the squares on the bottom are.

 

[9d84runner]

We ended up putting mesh on the bottom of cage. She has been in for 3 days now. I let her out after 1 day and she did great. A whole 5 hours outside and than all of a sudden ran inside! 3 days later she has stopped puffing up and growling when I or the chickens approach so we will see. She isn't eating much but it sort of sounds like something they do. Fingers cross that we don't have to go back into the cage.

 

[bruceha2000]

We ended up putting mesh on the bottom of cage. She has been in for 3 days now. I let her out after 1 day and she did great. A whole 5 hours outside and than all of a sudden ran inside! 3 days later she has stopped puffing up and growling when I or the chickens approach so we will see. She isn't eating much but it sort of sounds like something they do. Fingers cross that we don't have to go back into the cage.

Hopefully not. But if you let her out and she starts to act broody again, keep an eye on her. I have had some where the "Mrs. Hyde" twitches and neck feather flares come and go for a day or so but they are winding down, not up. Others ramp back up and need to go back in the buster. But for those it is usually only another day.

And, bad news for you, EVERY one of my girls that went broody in their first year of laying have gone broody multiple times a year ever since. Some girls just have it in them I guess.