My BO is acting ,,,,, happy but not eating now

[chiknwhisperer]

But I can't buy any eggs for her to hatch right now. And she did take her feathers out on her chest. How do I break her of being broody. I pick her up and take her off her nest and put her in the run. She will stay there for a little while and then right back on the nest she goes. She is sitting on my other hen's eggs when she lays them. I put her food and water right in front of her and she just stays there as long as I let her.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I have taken her off her nest in the mornings and put her out with my other hen. After that I close the door to the coop. Will that work?

 

[Jennie5193]

You can google "how to break a broody hen" and get all the answers you'll need. There are tons of sites and articles on this subject.

Good Luck with your hen! (I can't wait until I get a broody!)

 

[Buff Hooligans]

Does she look like this? This is my Pumpkin, who gets grumpygrumpygrumpy and doesn't approve of anything, no how when she's broody.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

EXACTLY like that.

 

[Judy]

There are several methods to break a broody, but if you have a wire dog cage or something similar, this seems to work about the best. Put her in it with food and water, but no bedding at all, for a few days. Set it up on some sawhorses or something of the sort, so that her bottom side has air to it all the time.

If you have a health food store nearby where you can buy fertile eggs, you could also try putting these under her. You probably won't get any 100% hatch rate, but you should get some, or at least, others here have.

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I put some eggs under her, now how long should I wait? 21 days?

 

[chiknwhisperer]

I gave her the eggs lastnight and then she stole another one from Red (my other hen).

 

[chiknwhisperer]

There she is with her eggs all tucked under her. She seems to be happier now.

 

[Schultz]

Yep 19-21 days! I hope you have a good hatch!