Broody breaker 101

[Akachicklil]

Dear Chicken Friends,

My dearest Bantam had gone broody. She loves to become broody. I have no desire for her to be broody because it isn’t in her best interest. Weight loss etc. I have several questions.


1. What can I use to make a broody breaker? Do you all have photos?

2. How large should the brooder breaker be?

3. How often do I take her out of broody breaker?

4. Is she going to be ok standing on mesh wire on the bottom of the cage? I worry about her feet. Cause most pics I see have no litter or hay etc. just the cage wire bottom….

5. How long do you recommend she stays in broody breaker?

6. When I place her in the coop and run she goes straight to the nesting boxes which is literally not so far away from coop. I worry that she will be broody forever just because of proximity of the nest and the coop. The coop has two roost on the top and the nest are behind the coop. I don’t think I have ever once seen her sleep in the coop. Even when she was not broody I think she slept in the nest. Do they know the difference?

Thank you in advance to all the chicken experts.

 

[K0k0shka]

I break my broodies outdoors, in a sectioned off part of the run, not in a crate. Does the same job, except it's more comfortable and less stressful for the broody. It has worked really well for me!

Here's a description of my method:
A more humane broody jail that actually works!

 

[Painted Calls]

Mine sometimes take weeks to break in a raised dog crate. Letting mine sit on the ground would never work.

If you have a more persistent girl, a dog crate works well and is easy to obtain. They need enough room to move around a bit, but they don't need a mansion. You should be letting them out of jail at least once a day for supervised rec time.

I take a dog crate and slide the plastic tray out. I then cover the bottom with HC. I use the crate bowls (they screw onto the crate with wing nuts) for food and water. That's it. Nothing else in the crate. I setup my jail at least 12 inches off the ground. My girls need all the airflow they can get.

My run is roofed, so I just set the jails up in the middle of the run.

 

[Akachicklil]

Mine sometimes take weeks to break in a raised dog crate. Letting mine sit on the ground would never work.

If you have a more persistent girl, a dog crate works well and is easy to obtain. They need enough room to move around a bit, but they don't need a mansion. You should be letting them out of jail at least once a day for supervised rec time.

I take a dog crate and slide the plastic tray out. I then cover the bottom with HC. I use the crate bowls (they screw onto the crate with wing nuts) for food and water. That's it. Nothing else in the crate. I setup my jail at least 12 inches off the ground. My girls need all the airflow they can get.

My run is roofed, so I just set the jails up in the middle of the run.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this down for me!

 

[Akachicklil]

I break my broodies outdoors, in a sectioned off part of the run, not in a crate. Does the same job, except it's more comfortable and less stressful for the broody. It has worked really well for me!

Here's a description of my method:
A more humane broody jail that actually works!

Thank you so much !

 

[3KillerBs]

I didn't have room in my coop for a broody breaker so I made one in the run:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/outdoor-broody-breaker.76592/

 

[Akachicklil]

I didn't have room in my coop for a broody breaker so I made one in the run:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/outdoor-broody-breaker.76592/

Nice that’s what I’m going to do! I got my dog create abs will prop it up. Should I cover her with a blanket or keep her all open at night?

 

[3KillerBs]

Nice that’s what I’m going to do! I got my dog create abs will prop it up. Should I cover her with a blanket or keep her all open at night?

She'll need to have appropriate shelter from the wind and the elements.

I was doing this in May in North Carolina.

 

[rosemarythyme]

1. A wire dog crate is the best bet. That said, I've used everything from my outdoor brooder (ironic), to a covered wire dog exercise pen, to an old tea cart on its side and wrapped in chicken wire (I don't recommend it, but it did work).

2. Big enough for the hen to stand and turn around in, at minimum. My brooder mentioned above is 9 sq ft, my exercise pen mentioned above is 16 sq ft. Those are larger than what you'd "need."

3. I keep them in for 48 hours and then, based on their behavior, let them out to test to see if they're broken or not.

4. She's not going to be on there long term so the wire floor should be fine. If you really can't stand it you can try an insert like a plastic needlepoint sheet, which is perforated and will let air through, but has much smaller openings than the default wire.

5. 48 hours to start, but some birds can take much longer to break. I have a serial broody that takes closer to 4-5 days to break.

6. I wouldn't let her sleep in the nests at all. Depending on how your nests are set up you can cover them with cardboard or plywood late in the afternoon, then uncover later at night or very early the next morning, to prevent her from sleeping in them but still make them accessible for laying.

 

[Akachicklil]

1. A wire dog crate is the best bet. That said, I've used everything from my outdoor brooder (ironic), to a covered wire dog exercise pen, to an old tea cart on its side and wrapped in chicken wire (I don't recommend it, but it did work).

2. Big enough for the hen to stand and turn around in, at minimum. My brooder mentioned above is 9 sq ft, my exercise pen mentioned above is 16 sq ft. Those are larger than what you'd "need."

3. I keep them in for 48 hours and then, based on their behavior, let them out to test to see if they're broken or not.

4. She's not going to be on there long term so the wire floor should be fine. If you really can't stand it you can try an insert like a plastic needlepoint sheet, which is perforated and will let air through, but has much smaller openings than the default wire.

5. 48 hours to start, but some birds can take much longer to break. I have a serial broody that takes closer to 4-5 days to break.

6. I wouldn't let her sleep in the nests at all. Depending on how your nests are set up you can cover them with cardboard or plywood late in the afternoon, then uncover later at night or very early the next morning, to prevent her from sleeping in them but still make them accessible for laying.

Thank you!!! I love all of your ideas. Super super helpful! I just placed the order for the plastic needlepoint sheet. I didn’t have any hardware wire and was able to order this cool plastic sheet with holes!!! Can’t wait to use that to really let that air come up underneath her and so she can not go crazy walking on the standard dog crate wire! I also put a roost in there.