Broodiness Cycle

[MotherOfChickens]

I have a hen that is CONSTANTLY going broody. I usually give her the 3 days in broody jail to break her. Well, for the first time I decided to let nature do it's thing and her broodiness break on it's own... My question is, how long does that generally take?
T.I.A.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you aren't going to let her hatch eggs, waiting for her to stop on her own is a bad idea.
Sometimes they never stop till they can no longer move on their own. A friend of mine had a broody turkey hen she didn't break. When she finally realized there was a problem, after a month of physical therapy and $2000 of vet bills, it died anyway.
Letting nature take its course is allowing a hen to raise a brood of chicks. That's what they would be doing in the wild.

Let me guess, your hen is either a silkie or cochin. ?

 

[MotherOfChickens]

She is known as Jail Bird Betty. She is a repeat offender.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Maybe in TN you could find someone who wants broody hens and trade them for a productive leghorn or something.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Nope. A Black Australorp. She literally goes broody every other month

Thanks for that. Orpington, Aorp and game hen were my other thoughts.
I realize you don't want or need more chickens, but with a relentlessly setting hen, she certainly has her mind set on raising a family. If you have space, perhaps getting a few fertile eggs will satisfy her. You can always sell the chicks later.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

*UPDATE*

Broody Betty is in jail. And she ain't happy. LOL!

I may have to eventually just let her hatch a couple eggs and give them away and see if that makes her stop, or at least not go broody so often. Doing jail every other month for one and a half years is exhausting lol.... And I hardly ever get eggs from her bc she is always wanting babies.

 

[Acre4Me]

We have a black Australorp that also goes broody pretty regularly. The other 2 BA never do. We’ve given her chicks 2x and she’s been a great momma hen. She’s been broody 2 other times and after about 3 weeks she’s gone back to normal. But, if you don’t want any of that, best to break her quick.

Good luck!

 

[centrarchid]

Breaking a broody may be made reliable by getting her to put on more weight. Feed items that are more palatable with higher nutrient density like you find with chick grower diets. With mine, I pop with shell corn once I know nutritional requirements met by consuming a complete ration. Goal for me is to get broody hen fat so she will come back into lay. Coming into lay is one of the switches that can break broodiness.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

If you aren't going to let her hatch eggs, waiting for her to stop on her own is a bad idea.
Sometimes they never stop till they can no longer move on their own. A friend of mine had a broody turkey hen she didn't break. When she finally realized there was a problem, after a month of physical therapy and $2000 of vet bills, it died anyway.
Letting nature take its course is allowing a hen to raise a brood of chicks. That's what they would be doing in the wild.

Let me guess, your hen is either a silkie or cochin. ?

Guess I'll go put her in jail lol

 

[MotherOfChickens]

Yeah, the hatching would be about 3 weeks but in that time they'll potentially rip out their chest feathers, lose weight and have nutrient imbalances but then chicks come and they recover. With no eggs to hatch she'll go through all that without an end date!

Out of curiosity, how old is she and how long has she been doing this?

to you! Super frustrating!

She is a tad over 2. And she has been doing it since she turned 7 months old. My other 2 BA's are her hatch mates and theyve never been broody.... None of my SS or Welsummers have been broody... Just her... She makes up for everyone else's lack of broodiness. LOL!

So I've been dealing with this for a year and a half lol... Every. Other. Freakin. Month. LOL!