Almost my entire flock BROODY! Help!

[SusanMarie]

Hello,

I have 12 - 10 month old hens (no rooster). Currently I have 5 hens; 1 Cochin, 3 Bantam Silkie's, and a Bantam Cochin Frizzle (I think), that are broody.

I have just read the posts relating to broody and have purchsed a rabbit cage. I have a few questions because I have so many to break at one time. The first is how many chickens should I pack into the cage? 25" x 19". If I should take them in teams, should I choose the ones that have been broddy the longest, or does that matter? and How will I know that they are done beeing broddy, does this take days or weeks?

Thanks!

 

[onthespot]

make sure they can stretch out a bit. You can put a lot more of them in an XL wire dog crate from walmart, LOL THat is what I am having to do right now. As soon as I break two, four more go broody!!!!!!! It is like a disease, I tell you! Don't crowd them too hard or they will snuggle up and keep their body temp up and stay broody. If you have to, put in a couple, break them, put in another couple, break them. better than trying to crowd them all in there at once.

 

[lauralou]

I totally agree with onthespot. Don't try to pack them in there. I can only put one broody per cage with my flock. They get really cranky and eat each other up. Consequently, I have 3 broody cages.

It is a plague.

It seems to me that the longer they have been broody, the harder they are to break. If I need to break more hens than I have cages, I generally start with the ones that are just going broody. That may be something that is just particular to my crazy girls though.

You'll know that they aren't broody anymore when you walk by the cage and don't hear "puck-puck-puck" anymore. And they don't fluff up and screech anymore. And most importantly, you'll know when you let them out of the cage and they don't try to get back on a nest. Because they can be tricky, and pretend they aren't broody anymore, then sneak back into a nestbox on you.

Gotta love those broody hens!

 

[SusanMarie]

Thank you to both. I put my huge Cochin and my Bantom Cochin Silkie together, but may pull the little one out, if I feel they are not nice to each other. The Cochin is so sweet, it's the Frizzle that likes to pitch fits!