Broody Breaker Box--questions

[texsuze]

This will be my first attempt to break the broody cycle with one (maybe all three!) of my girls. Plan is to get a rabbit cage (or cages) and have it elevated above the ground. I understand about food and water being available within the "breaker box", and no bedding or nest box present, too.

Questions:
1. Can the broody hen still be allowed out to visit, dust bathe, run around with the flock, so long as she is prevented from returning to the old nest box?
2. Should the broody breaker box be totally isolated from the rest of the flock, and/or from other coups and runs, or can it be visible to the other hens if necessary?
3. Can I use shade cloth, or similar, at night, to give broody hen some sense of security?
4. What are the signs that she has broken out of the 'broody zone', i.e. how will I know when to get her out of BBB?

A broody buster box will not fit into either of my coops, for sure. And I'm nervous about having it visible to potential 'wandering critters' at night when it's being used in my larger of the two runs, even though I'm convinced my run is 'critter proof'. I just wouldn't want broody hen exposed to being seen at night, since the chooks are always up in their coop.

Three of my five girls are currently broody (see my other post!) so I might attempt to "break broody" with two at the same time, obviously in separate broody breaker boxes. Thanks for your input.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Questions:

1. Can the broody hen still be allowed out to visit, dust bathe, run around with the flock, so long as she is prevented from returning to the old nest box? I would not. Don’t baby her. She needs to be in there with her undersides cooling. She’ll be unhappy but she will be OK.

2. Should the broody breaker box be totally isolated from the rest of the flock, and/or from other coups and runs, or can it be visible to the other hens if necessary? Mine is in my coop.

3. Can I use shade cloth, or similar, at night, to give broody hen some sense of security? I would not. You don’t want her to feel comfortable. Bright light is good to help break them. It does need to be predator proof though. You don’t want to cook her in the sun either.

4. What are the signs that she has broken out of the 'broody zone', i.e. how will I know when to get her out of BBB? I don’t have a good answer for that. After about 72 hours I open the door and see what she does. She should go eat and drink regardless. If she goes back to the nest, which rarely happens but sometimes does, she goes back in the broody buster for a couple of more days. She’s eating and drinking so it does not hurt her.

Three of my five girls are currently broody (see my other post!) so I might attempt to "break broody" with two at the same time, obviously in separate broody breaker boxes. Thanks for your input

I will put more than one in mine at a time, but mine is 3’ x 6’. Yours is probably much smaller. Mine is actually a brooder built into the coop.