Australia - Six states..and that funny little island.

[Teila]

Hey Chook Newby If you can not get a wire bottom cage or crate, you could try and fashion something out of some wire, just ensuring in has a top. While raised off the ground is best, you can get by with on the ground [like in our pictures] Or, the other option, if you can, is to close off an area in the run itself.

Main priority, keep her away from nest boxes. Even after a couple of days of being away from one, just 5mins back in one can turn her back to full on broody.

With new broodies that I have not put in the breaker before, I usually leave them until the weekend so that I can watch her and check she does not get stressed.

She does not need to be in the breaker if you are home, she can wander around, just as long as you keep her away from the nest altogether by closing the coop etc.

Two days is usually the minimum in breaking a broody and some can take 5 or so. After a couple of days, watch her to see how she goes, if she is trying to break into the coop, not broken, back to broody jail. If you open up the coop and she plonks in a nest box, not broken, back to broody jail.

Edited to add: If you Google broody breaker and then go to images, there are a couple of different ideas not based on a crate or cage.

Fizzybelle this summer is going to be the big test for our new coop. I am hoping that the fact that it is raised and has a slatted timber floor is going to be a benefit. It is a lot bigger than their other coop so hopefully a lot cooler too.

I have never used a fan and have not really worried too much about night time; the heat of the day concerns me more. Today at lunchtime I damped down their favourite part of the garden and the overhanging vegetation and hubby came home from the shops with a watermelon for them.

On extreme days, I pop ice cubes in their water and refresh it often. We had a mister on the old run which we may install on the new one but as they are now free ranging the majority of the time, I might stick to the spraying of their garden area instead. Puddles are good also. While my gals do not particularly like getting wet, they do enjoy digging in damp or puddled dirt which should help keep them cool.

Aaaaaw SilkieChickStar that jellybean is adorable! Yep, starting to actually look like a parrot now

 

[satay]

Hi Chook Newby, All the best with breaking your broody. I granted my pekin Esmé parole from broody gaol today, though my D'Uccle Beatrice has now reoffended. Half victory. I would try putting your girl in a fenced off area during the day, and the cage at night. A fan also helps to spread the cool air, plus it's hot already. If she's flying though, and you're unable to put her in a small run that has a roof of sorts,  then maybe just keep her in the cage until she's snapped out of it. Since she's broody, she'll likely just sit down anyway. All you can do is try and see how it goes I've tried the water thing too, with no success. Just a wet and angry broody.

Satay, 40 degree days already? Dang I was wondering what do you do to keep your girls cool, especially at night. Do you have fans in your coop? I'm curious to hear what everyone else does to keep their girls cool day and night. I'm looking to run a pedestal fan into my coop when we get power to the shed as they're panting already. I had one case of heat stroke last year (ended well thankfully), don't want another ever again.

I don't do anything special unless it goes over 40c then i have sprinklers set up on the main coop and ones i move around for the others. Seems to work. I lost a few a while back when it hit 48c one day but mostly they do fine in the heat. Todays temp 38.9c.

 

[satay]

Hehe, you'd be welcome anytime. I'm sure we'd have some gumboots to fit you. It rained so hard night before last, that I couldn't sleep.
Our visitors usually say, " omg I can't believe how green your grass is " . By the time they are leaving they are saying " geez it rains a lot here " . I laugh and say " well you can't have one without the other, goes with the territory " .

So true. I'd be happy to walk around with out gummies

 

[Chook Newby]

Thank you Teila and Fizzybelle, I have some ideas now. I will see what I can come up with tonight (thank god its day light savings and I can create something after I get home from work without it being dark to soon).

I will keep you all updated and let you know how I go with her. Once I figure this out then the other three girls shouldnt be too hard to deal with when they go broody. Im just glad she doesnt bite me when I pick her up and tell her to get out of the coop!

Well Im off home to figure this out! Wish me luck

 

[appps]

Thank you so much Appps and Teila  

I'm a little reluctant to block her off with fencing because yesterday after I 'kicked her out' of the coop yesterday, I came back 20 mins later to find her desperatly trying to get back in by flying up on top of it!  If she had flown 1.5 metres more, she would have been over the back fence!  That scared me.

I tried popping her in a cold water bath yesterday - twice - she wasnt very impressed so I gave that away as she got too stresssed.

I think the way to go is the 'broody breaker'.  I just need to find the wire bottom cage.  So can I just ask, do I keep her in the cage all day, every day for 3 days and just put her on her roost at night with the others?  My biggest concern is that she will get really stressed from being confined?

Love both your chicken areas BTW :cd

Just make sure you try it out when you are around first. I have two chickens that have panic attacks in cages like that.

 

[sjturner79]

Hi guys I hope I am posting in the right section. I appoligies if I haven't. I am after some hens to add to the flock. I have looked in classifieds etc but their is none of the kind I would like. I was hoping to find some more Old English Bantams, Hoping if someone from around here would be able to guide me to a good chicken loving seller, and or if someone would be able to suggest what other kind of breeds would be suited to fit in with our beloved babies. Many thanks in advance

Hi rach, some information on where you are and if you need pullets or are able to hatch eggs would help us give you an answer.

 

[sjturner79]

Hehe, you'd be welcome anytime. I'm sure we'd have some gumboots to fit you. It rained so hard night before last, that I couldn't sleep.
Our visitors usually say, " omg I can't believe how green your grass is " . By the time they are leaving they are saying " geez it rains a lot here " . I laugh and say " well you can't have one without the other, goes with the territory " .

Sounds like here. Some one commented that we might be having a drought because it's been 5 days of sunshine

 

[Fizzybelle]

I don't do anything special unless it goes over 40c then i have sprinklers set up on the main coop and ones i move around for the others. Seems to work. I lost a few a while back when it hit 48c one day but mostly they do fine in the heat. Todays temp 38.9c.

Dear god, I don't want to fathom 48c. I might get a mister, save on using the hose all time. Thanks

Teila, ah yeh it's that time of year again when chilled watermelon hits the spot for chickens and their humans too. I've been hosing where they hang out in the shade, so I'll keep on with that, icecubes and treats. It's our girls first summer in their new coop and run too, I designed it for summer, so it shouldn't be too bad. I did mention the external power point on the shed to my dad so if need be I can plug in a fan, so hopefully that goes ahead soon.

Tonight, Beatrice wanted the whole coop all to herself at bedtime, just because she's broody. She yelled at Ada my Aussie hybrid who is also the flock alpha. She turned and walked back down the ramp lol. Thing is that's not even her coop normally, the bantams sleep in a temporary coop in their own pen (second coop to be built still). Bossy little Belgian, talk about an ego.



From earlier today, but still the same attitude.

 

[Teila]

Good morning folks

.... Once again I need your thoughts and advice please?

So, I searched back and remember when LuLu gave us a scare and we were not sure if she fell off the roost which caused symptoms of head back, pulled into her feathers, lack of balance, disorientation etc or whether the symptoms caused her to fall off the roost; that was 21 September. If you remember, she did it a couple of times that night and we ended up putting her in the nest box to sleep. She was perfectly normal the next morning.

That was when we started the Anitone and she has been fine up until last night.

I was watching them go to roost and LuLu was looking up at the roost, getting ready to jump, her head went way back, she toppled over and flapped her wings a bit. Then she came good, tried to jump and totally misjudged it. So I picked her up and popped her on the roost. We watched her for a while and she seemed OK. However, later when hubby checked her, she was back on the coop floor, disorientated. He popped her in the nest box to sleep and this morning she is perfectly normal again.

Having had an epileptic dog, this reminds me very much of epilepsy and while I could find lots of information on Google about chickens having seizures with not much definitive cause, no-one was actually calling it epilepsy. It is nearly 7 weeks since the last episode and she has been perfectly normal in between time. She is also the only one to have experienced this.

Has anyone else had experience with chickens and seizures? Do you think she could have epilepsy?

 

[satay]

Good morning folks .... Once again I need your thoughts and advice please?

So, I searched back and remember when LuLu gave us a scare and we were not sure if she fell off the roost which caused symptoms of head back, pulled into her feathers, lack of balance, disorientation etc or whether the symptoms caused her to fall off the roost; that was 21 September.  If you remember, she did it a couple of times that night and we ended up putting her in the nest box to sleep.  She was perfectly normal the next morning.

That was when we started the Anitone and she has been fine up until last night.

I was watching them go to roost and LuLu was looking up at the roost, getting ready to jump, her head went way back, she toppled over and flapped her wings a bit.  Then she came good, tried to jump and totally misjudged it.  So I picked her up and popped her on the roost.  We watched her for a while and she seemed OK.  However, later when hubby checked her, she was back on the coop floor, disorientated.  He popped her in the nest box to sleep and this morning she is perfectly normal again.

Having had an epileptic dog, this reminds me very much of epilepsy and while I could find lots of information on Google about chickens having seizures with not much definitive cause, no-one was actually calling it epilepsy.    It is nearly 7 weeks since the last episode and she has been perfectly normal in between time.  She is also the only one to have experienced this.

Has anyone else had experience with chickens and seizures?  Do you think she could have epilepsy?

Many years ago i had a little red bantam rooster and he would have what i would have called seizures. He would run around fine all day then every now and then drop to the ground and shake like a seizure. I took him to the vets a few times but they couldn't really find any cause. He lived another 2 years after that while still having maybe one turn a fortnight.