Breaking broody in 6 degree F. temperature

[KenaiChickens]

I have a 7 month old possibly broody Barnevelder who wouldn’t leave the nesting box today, growls when anything comes near. I took her out and had her eat and drink but she went right back to the box. I removed her two more times and set her on the roost (it’s dark around 5pm here) but she hopped down each time. I can get a kennel or section off an area in the coop for her but I’m concerned she will get too cold by herself. Anyone have experience breaking a broody in these temps? Low tonight 6 degrees, 10 degrees tomorrow night, high 15 degrees. She’s at the bottom of the pecking order. Coop is uninsulated and not heated.

 

[aart]

I'd put her in a wire bottomed breaker crate, with a section of 2x4 on the floor so at least she can cover her feet.
Any chance you have a slightly warmer area to put the crate in?

 

[WIchickMama]

I would second the thought of a slightly warmer area--garage or even basement? Not ideal but it should just be for a couple days. Any chance of some warmer weather in the next day or so?

 

[aart]

Another thought, you could let her roost at night(cover the nests) and crate her during the day.

 

[KenaiChickens]

Sunday through Tuesday lows 14-25 then it drops to single digits. I can bring her into the garage (65 degrees) if needed. I can block off the nests but the coop has shavings on the floor. I have a brooder heating plate I could possibly use. So far she seems to be acting normal today, hoping it was a false alarm

 

[aart]

Sunday through Tuesday lows 14-25 then it drops to single digits. I can bring her into the garage (65 degrees) if needed.

That's too warm, IMO.

So far she seems to be acting normal today, hoping it was a false alarm

Hopefully she goes to roost tonight.

 

[azygous]

There can be false alarms with hens appearing to be going broody. It's important to know and be able to identify broody symptoms. Lingering on a nest does not necessarily mean a hen is broody.

As a way of demonstrating a hen that is pre-broody but not yet all the way broody, I'll tell you about my tiny Sicilian Buttercup Saffron. She's only slightly over a year old. A bit over a month ago in late October, she began clucking rapidly under her breath, a broody symptom, and holding herself fluffed up with wings slightly out to her sides, another broody symptom.

When this behavior would annoy another hen who would give her a scolding peck, Saffron emitted a screech and would puff up and flap her wings in defiance, another broody symptom. Yet Saffron continued to lay eggs uninterrupted, and she never stayed long on the nest after laying. In a few weeks, this phase had passed, and Saffron never did go broody all the way.

If Saffron had gone broody all the way, she would have begun sitting on a nest and stopped laying further eggs. She would have plucked feathers from along her keel bone to create bare skin to make direct contact with eggs she would be incubating, creating the right temperature and humidity for embryo development. It is when a hen reaches this final stage of going broody that we know for sure this is what's going on, and then we can break her broody hormones by placing her in a broody cage with an open mesh bottom, the exact opposite of a warm cozy nest. The open mesh allows air to circulate, thus reducing the broody's body temperature, and this interrupts the broody hormones after about three days.

Since the broody hen must remain day and night in the cage until her hormones break, the cage must be placed in a safe environment where she won't get overheated or freeze, and it must be protected from predators. If a broody is coming from a below freezing environment, the cage must not be placed where the temp is much warmer or she will suffer heat sickness. You would need to give her a place where it's ideally no warmer than high 40s. This way she can go back to the freezing temps and still be acclimatized when her hormones have been broken.

Giving a broody any extra heat might interfere with the broody cage being able to break her, another reason for adjusting her environment to her needs.

 

[KenaiChickens]

Yesterday I got a crate and set up a spot in the coop for her, blocking off her view of the nests. As soon as I put her in the cage my normally sweet chicken attacked her through the cage bars. Before I had put her in jail, a girl got too close and Deer (the Barnevelder) puffed up, spread out her wings and attacked. I put her in the garage next to the dog door cracked, temps around 40. I’m going to try to separate the area for her in the coop with fencing so they can see but not attack each other.

It probably doesn’t help that the coop isn’t very big (4x8) but they don’t spend much time in there aside from sleeping. I thought we would lose a chick or two but didn’t, 9 total. Haven’t gotten any eggs since last Thursday but once I took Deer away I did notice two girls in her nesting box.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Yesterday I got a crate and set up a spot in the coop for her, blocking off her view of the nests. As soon as I put her in the cage my normally sweet chicken attacked her through the cage bars. Before I had put her in jail, a girl got too close and Deer (the Barnevelder) puffed up, spread out her wings and attacked. I put her in the garage next to the dog door cracked, temps around 40. I’m going to try to separate the area for her in the coop with fencing so they can see but not attack each other.

A larger separate area inside the coop would probably work better, as my only gripe with using a dog crate is it doesn't give the bird inside much room to retreat if others are trying to peck at her.

If weather was warmer/better then I'd recommend a larger cage inside the run instead of the coop, but understandably that wouldn't be ideal in your set up right now (but something to consider in warmer months).

 

[KenaiChickens]

I let her out yesterday. She ate, drank and ran to find the others in the yard. Back to behaving normally, thanks everyone