Broody Buff!

[alc245]

Hey everyone, got a question for you! We have a buff Orphington who has gone broody, we have tried to break her by separating her from the flock in a dog kennel in our garage for 4-5 days and she won't change her attitude. We have also have tried soaking her in cold water to try to lower her body temperature, still broody. Should we just let her lay on the eggs? We live in upstate NY/ finger lakes region and we are getting into colder months. If we have chicks hatch, what do we do then? Separate them from the hen and put under a heat lamp? This was not in our plan lol

 

[ChickenCanoe]

If you have fertile eggs and you aren't opposed to having more chickens, stick about 10 eggs or so under her in a safe nest. Make sure to mark the eggs so you can remove any that other hens volunteer to the nest.
No need to worry about weather. She'll keep the chicks warm. All you'll have to do is switch the flock over to starter/grower feed.
Putting her in a dog kennel won't break her.
If you want to break her, she needs to be in an elevated wire bottom cage for a few days to allow cool air to reach her underside.

 

[Gray Farms]

A hanging wire cage works best. Or just let her set but take her eggs everyday. She'll give up eventually.