Broodiness Cycle

[MotherOfChickens]

What does your hen “jail” look like? I have a broody hen who hatched an egg but I took the baby. She’s still broody so I finally gave her some eggs after weeks of taking her off the meat several times a day. I even put her in a dog crate for a day but got worried at night that she would get hurt so I let her out. She’s been broody for about 4 months now. I’m going to let her hatch these eggs and keep the babies as long as the babies are doing okay. Just wondering how you break yours with jail.

Mine is just a large wire dog crate. It is like 3 ft x 4 ft. All I put in it is a perch, food, and water. I do put the tray in there but might fix one up like @aart has with the wire bottom, then the tray an inch or so under it, just for the sake of keeping her from walking in her poop all day. I raise it up off the ground so air gets under it. Ieave her in it for 3 days. On the 3rd day, if she isnt doing the "cluck cluck cluck" I let her out. If she goes to the nest (which she never has after 3 days in the crate) I would put her back in it.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I have a hen just like this, the same breed too. I did let her hatch a clutch. But when the chicks were about 5 weeks old, she drove them away from her and went broody AGAIN. She lives in a state of broodiness. Last year she went to "jail" 4 times. This year she seems to be broody all the time, minus trying to sit.

Do you have other BAs? I have 2 other BAs, her hatchmates, and theyve NEVER gone broody

 

[MotherOfChickens]

If I leave her to break by herself how long does this usually take

That was my original question... I guess it depends on the hen. Apparently some never break and can die. And some will break naturally. After a month of her on the nest (she would come off it to eat and drink and walk around a lil bit but would go back) I finally put her in jail.

 

[MotherOfChickens]

I read all the suggestions and thought you could use some help. There are actually two methods. The one i prefer ,that WORKS,is. I keep 5 roosters in one yard.Put her in with them.They keep her busy and are constantly breeding her.All the different breeds I have,this has worked on.

I dont have a rooster.... well, I do have a rooster, but I had to send him to live on my dad's 22 acres. I think I just need to set the crate up in a permanent area for when this occurs, since it occurs far too often. What is funny is, if I wanted a broody hen, I'd probably never have one lol

 

[Henriettamom919]

I dont have a rooster.... well, I do have a rooster, but I had to send him to live on my dad's 22 acres. I think I just need to set the crate up in a permanent area for when this occurs, since it occurs far too often. What is funny is, if I wanted a broody hen, I'd probably never have one lol

Isn't that the truth?

Mine went broody for the first time a week AFTER we brought home chicks Of course by then they were far too old to sneak under her! Little mother fluffer, it's like she knew

 

[Thomas70]

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. ?

She spent $2000 on a turkey, what was she thinking?

 

[Thomas70]

We have silkies and they usually lay for 30 days and then go broody. They will remain broody another 30 days if you let them. When they get broody they more or less live in the nesting boxes in the coup. We lock them out of the coup during the day and in about a week they snap out of it. On the flip side silkies are great if you want to raise them.

 

[Col1948]

Blimey, $2000 on vet bills, that gobbled up her money.

 

[Henriettamom919]

Blimey, $2000 on vet bills, that gobbled up her money.

I'm only slightly ashamed that I laughed out loud at this

 

[DDflamingo]

Hi. I have a BA that goes thru phases. I have a couple others right now that are trying to be broody. I collect eggs often, and once I get them, I put the girls on the ground. They aren't happy, they have their fits and its comical. But they don't stay broody.
I also read some time ago about putting ice cubes underneath them as a possible way to break the broodiness..