Broody 7 Month Old EE Pullet

[bill3607]

So, one of my EE pullets has gone broody. She is 7 months old and has been laying for a couple of months. I do not even have a rooster so no fertile eggs. She has been this way for 3 or 4 days, or there about. I have reached under her and got any eggs that was under her each day. There are 5 boxes and she would be in 1 of 2 boxes and maybe a 3rd one day. So, that tells me she is at least getting up at times and eating and drinking. Today, she is setting on a fake egg. I have taken her out of the nest box and of course that upsets her and she wants to go right back in the box. Today, I even took her out to the run with the others and closed the pop door. She did dig around and eat and drink etc.. at times but also was still upset and ever so often would go to the pop door desperate to get in. After a few hours I opened it and she ran inside and straight to the nest box.

So my thing is that I really do not mind if I am not getting an egg from her for awhile. And, I have recently downgraded from 17 girls to 8 and I have 5 boxes, so there is room for the other girls. Though I will say I had an egg or 2 on the coop floor the last couple of days, so maybe she is taken up a favorite box of one or more of them. Still not a big deal to me. I really do not mind her being broody, but is it okay for her if I just let it run its course? Will she eventually snap out of it on her own? She certainly is not going to hatch anything.

Thank you

 

[DobieLover]

So, one of my EE pullets has gone broody. She is 7 months old and has been laying for a couple of months. I do not even have a rooster so no fertile eggs. She has been this way for 3 or 4 days, or there about. I have reached under her and got any eggs that was under her each day. There are 5 boxes and she would be in 1 of 2 boxes and maybe a 3rd one day. So, that tells me she is at least getting up at times and eating and drinking. Today, she is setting on a fake egg. I have taken her out of the nest box and of course that upsets her and she wants to go right back in the box. Today, I even took her out to the run with the others and closed the pop door. She did dig around and eat and drink etc.. at times but also was still upset and ever so often would go to the pop door desperate to get in. After a few hours I opened it and she ran inside and straight to the nest box.

So my thing is that I really do not mind if I am not getting an egg from her for awhile. And, I have recently downgraded from 17 girls to 8 and I have 5 boxes, so there is room for the other girls. Though I will say I had an egg or 2 on the coop floor the last couple of days, so maybe she is taken up a favorite box of one or more of them. Still not a big deal to me. I really do not mind her being broody, but is it okay for her if I just let it run its course? Will she eventually snap out of it on her own? She certainly is not going to hatch anything.

Thank you

You have to break her. She won't stop until she hatches or dies.
Put her in an elevated wire dog crate with a piece of wood or board in it for her to perch on. Put food and water in the crate with her and put the crate in the run during the day then lock it up in the coop at night.
Leave her in the crate for 2 nights and 3 days. About an hour before roost time of the 3rd day, let her out and watch her. If she goes about normal activity and roosts with the flock, she broke.
If she gets back in a nest box, take her out and put her back in the crate until the next evening and let her out again. She will break eventually.

 

[bill3607]

Wow, okay then. Thank you so much.

 

[bill3607]

You have to break her. She won't stop until she hatches or dies.
Put her in an elevated wire dog crate with a piece of wood or board in it for her to perch on. Put food and water in the crate with her and put the crate in the run during the day then lock it up in the coop at night.
Leave her in the crate for 2 nights and 3 days. About an hour before roost time of the 3rd day, let her out and watch her. If she goes about normal activity and roosts with the flock, she broke.
If she gets back in a nest box, take her out and put her back in the crate until the next evening and let her out again. She will break eventually.

I am curious as to why the crate needs to be elevated?

 

[DobieLover]

I am curious as to why the crate needs to be elevated?

It keeps her out of bedding and helps cool her belly. You need to break that desire to nest. Remove all ability to do so.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Generally hens will break on their own once they set for the whole duration that it'd normally take to hatch, but very occasionally there'll be hens that won't stop sitting, or will sit until they've lost so much weight and overall body condition that they can't recover. They're also a little more prone to parasite issues due to the fact that they're sitting on the nest for the majority of the time. It can also cause a bit of stress and strife in the flock since, as you can imagine, the broody is simply grumpy and difficult for the other birds to deal with. So for those reasons it's best to break them if you don't intend to hatch/raise chicks.

 

[mamajos]

Last fall I had a hen become broody. First time that happened for me. I let her be, thinking she would stop on her own. Eventually she did stop, but it did weaken her, and she died this past Christmas time - She was 2 yrs old. I think she got too weak, and I did not realize it. I have a new broody now, and just put her in a cage to break her. She hated the cage, but has now settled down in it.

 

[aart]

I am curious as to why the crate needs to be elevated?

Just a few inches(3-4) will do the trick.

 

[bill3607]

Just an update on my broody pullet. She got out of the cage tonight and it seems like it worked. She got up on the roost with the other girls. So, hopefully, tomorrow everything is still good.

Thank you all so much for the instructions! Very helpful.