Breaking Broody - Am I Doing It Right?

[Egghead_Jr]

She wont lay eggs if she's brooding. As she's gearing up for brooding she can but once in brood no. Either way, if you're sure she's attempting to brood then cage her.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So it's ok to do the broody cage this early and have her lay eggs in there? She's currently free ranging with her flockmates after pushing out an egg.

Are the little "pimples" excess calcium deposits?

It's fine if they still have an egg or two in the tract and lay it in the broody cage. But regardless if that happens, I would not let her out until she's reliably broken. She should stop laying completely for a few weeks as her hormones readjust, so no reason for her to be in the nest at all.

Yes calcium deposits.

 

[NatalieP]

So then one final question. At what minimum temperature will she be ok to sleep alone at night? Lows here are in the low 20s for the next few nights and with cold air all around her, I dont want to cause her any harm.

 

[rosemarythyme]

So then one final question. At what minimum temperature will she be ok to sleep alone at night? Lows here are in the low 20s for the next few nights and with cold air all around her, I dont want to cause her any harm.

You can either let her in to roost at night if you're really concerned about the cold, or if the spot in the run is well secured and not in the line of winds or strong drafts, she should be fine even outside. You could loosely surround the broody cage with some hay or bagged dried leaves or even some cardboard as a windbreak, as long as there's still good ventilation around her.

 

[David61]

about zero with no draft.
If she is free ranging with flock mates , thats not sitting the nest. I have a girl who sits the nest for an hour when she lays.
A broody chicken ( as it was explained to me ) is a screaming pancake that runs back to the nest ever time you take them off the nest.

 

[NatalieP]

about zero with no draft.
If she is free ranging with flock mates , thats not sitting the nest. I have a girl who sits the nest for an hour when she lays.
A broody chicken ( as it was explained to me ) is a screaming pancake that runs back to the nest ever time you take them off the nest.

That's the weird thing about this. She laid the egg, I pulled her out and took the egg, she free ranged for about 20 mins, and then sprinted back to the nest boxes, so we pulled her out again. Boarded up the nest boxes tonight and let her roost but she was panicking about not being able to get to the nest boxes. She must be gearing up as others suggested.

Thanks again everyone for your help and suggestions!

 

[NatalieP]

Hello! I let out my broody Ameracauna today after 3 days in the broody cage. So far so good! I did not wait for the tell tale egg in the cage since I caught her early and I read online that some ladies take weeks to lay again. She hasn't laid since Saturday so I'll be keeping a close eye on her the next few days.

But now, I'm certain my SS is gearing up to be broody. Today I found a handful of her feathers in the nest box. She was spending a bit of time in the nest box this morning so I went to check on her and she was quite unhappy (vocally) when I just gently touched her in the nest box. I wanted to check if there was an egg under her but I decided to leave and give her some time. She did eventually lay an egg and leave the nest box and is out in the run. I see she's going down the path as my Ameracauna, so any suggestions on how to stop this so early? The broody cage seems excessive right now and I dont know if it would be even affective if she's not fully broody? Does the bath work?

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Hello! I let out my broody Ameracauna today after 3 days in the broody cage. So far so good! I did not wait for the tell tale egg in the cage since I caught her early and I read online that some ladies take weeks to lay again. She hasn't laid since Saturday so I'll be keeping a close eye on her the next few days.

But now, I'm certain my SS is gearing up to be broody. Today I found a handful of her feathers in the nest box. She was spending a bit of time in the nest box this morning so I went to check on her and she was quite unhappy (vocally) when I just gently touched her in the nest box. I wanted to check if there was an egg under her but I decided to leave and give her some time. She did eventually lay an egg and leave the nest box and is out in the run. I see she's going down the path as my Ameracauna, so any suggestions on how to stop this so early? The broody cage seems excessive right now and I dont know if it would be even affective if she's not fully broody? Does the bath work?

Congrats on your broody bitty! Once you go through this rodeo a few times, you'll figure out the cage is the easiest sure-fire way to fix the issue. If you catch them early, I've had success ONE time shooing the bird away from the nest a few times (a welsummer hen who later did go full broody). Most of the time shooing them away and other methods don't work. My Ameraucana is a non-stop broody marathon. She was broody five times last year, and I let her hatch twice. She even went broody in December! The good news is she usually starts laying around a week after I "break" her, and she's a great mom if I choose to let her hatch! Good luck!

 

[NatalieP]

Congrats on your broody bitty! Once you go through this rodeo a few times, you'll figure out the cage is the easiest sure-fire way to fix the issue. If you catch them early, I've had success ONE time shooing the bird away from the nest a few times (a welsummer hen who later did go full broody). Most of the time shooing them away and other methods don't work. My Ameraucana is a non-stop broody marathon. She was broody five times last year, and I let her hatch twice. She even went broody in December! The good news is she usually starts laying around a week after I "break" her, and she's a great mom if I choose to let her hatch! Good luck!

Oh my. I did not know they can get that broody!! I'm laughing over here since when I was doing research on breeds, I found somewhere that said they don't go broody and now to find out multiple times in the year

 

[humblehillsfarm]

Oh my. I did not know they can get that broody!! I'm laughing over here since when I was doing research on breeds, I found somewhere that said they don't go broody and now to find out multiple times in the year

My girl came from Meyer Hatchery and it lists on their site that they are known to be broody. Their EEs (which I also have) were listed as non-broody, and so far that's been true for my EEs. I don't mind the broodiness. We casually refer to her as "rapter" chicken when she's broody due to her broody squawking. "Rapter chicken is back again." She's actually gotten more docile and I believe it's because I've had to handle her so much when she is broody.