Brooding Hen

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drinnenm

drinnenm

In the Brooder
7 Years
Oct 12, 2012
20
0
24
I have a Buff Orpington that has been brooding for almost 2 months now, how long will she brood? How do I shake her out of this mood :)
 
Hello :frow and Welcome To BYC! There is a nice article in the Learning Center about broodys and how you can discourage them if you want to https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/encouraging-or-discouraging-broodiness-in-your-hens Some of them will keep brooding almost indefinitely or even starve themselves if you don't break them, for breaking them I like using a separate cage like what they call a broody breaker, it usually works well. I usually just use a wire dog crate, the bottom wire spacing is usually around 1x4"... you want it really uncomfortable for her to stand/sit on. I put a couple of perches in there and hang small food/water dishes on the sides so they can't stand or sit in them. Put the crate out in the open, I prefer to put them in the middle of the barn aisle or coop so there is a lot of activity and light... you want the hen to be bothered. They don't like to walk on the wire so they spend pretty much all the time on the perches, that works pretty well for most of them. I've never tried it, but some people have mentioned putting a small fan under them to cool them off even more.
 
Welcome to BYC
frow.gif
Glad you joined us! X2 the above suggestion. That seems to be the most effective method for breaking broodies. If you are not going to let her hatch eggs, it's better to break a broody asap. The little activity and feed intake while sitting is hard on their bodies in the long run.
 
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Welcome to BYC!

Yes, some broodies just don't know when to quit. I have a bird like that. The cage method works well to help cool the brood patch down. Also the broody dunk on cold water helps to cool the brood patch. Sometimes you have to remove them completely from the coop and keep them elsewhere completely out of sight of the coop for several days and using the cage method as well. This can help break them of being broody. They can lose a lot of weight and really get run down being broody so long.

Good luck with your broody and welcome to our flock!
 
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Welcome to BYC. Cage her away from her chosen nest site, and eventually she will give up. Understand that it may be a week or more before she gives up.
 
I had a BO that went broody about a week after two Cuckoo Marans. I gave the Marans 6 eggs each.
The BO gave up today, less than two days after the Marans hatched their clutches.
 
Some have started using those blue ice blocks that you put in the freezer. They take a couple put a towel over it and let that be the flooring in a dog crate. The broodies do not like setting on something cold. It seems to ruin the broody mood fairly fast.
 

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