Broody flock, one girl won't stop pacing and yelling

porokelle

Chirping
Dec 5, 2021
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Hello all,
We've got a flock of 5 going broody, one at a time.

This past week we've had 2 go broody; we took the eggs, brought them out of the box several times, a few grumpy pecks and treats, butt baths (they needed that done as well) and bare skin where they nestle their eggs, and they came back around. 2 of the others have stopped laying.

The 5th - our black orpington - went broody this morning after laying her egg. We have been dousing her bare chest, giving her frozen peas to lower her temp, and removed the nesting boxes - she has been pacing and yelling like a madman for the past 7 hours.
She's a bit calmer than when we initially took her off the nest, but wondering if there's anything else we can do to help the hormones stop raging??
We have a big dog crate, but are worried she's in such a state it might upset her further to be in a new location. Distraction with food and treats only helps so much.

She's the dramatic and prissy one of the flock, but also has egg laying issues (every other week - two eggs seem to be released in her system at once, causing the first to get stuck during it's turn and having to lay another by the next morning - she's on Calcium supplements)

Thank you!
 
I'd do the dog crate. You want to get her away from the nest. 24 hours ought to do it. Be sure the crate is raised up with only a perch (I put a length of 2x4 in there) and no bedding material. The idea is to keep her underside cool. Those hormones are making her insane. She'll calm down once the broodiness is broken.

Keep us updated!
 
I'd do the dog crate. You want to get her away from the nest. 24 hours ought to do it. Be sure the crate is raised up with only a perch (I put a length of 2x4 in there) and no bedding material. The idea is to keep her underside cool. Those hormones are making her insane. She'll calm down once the broodiness is broken.

Keep us updated!
Thanks! We didn't have to resort to the crate - she snapped out of it maybe half an hour after I posted. Quite suddenly, like it never happened...
But we'll keep it ready to go for tomorrow if she heads back into it - we're putting the nesting boxes back in tonight just in case, and I'm sure someone will go broody again tomorrow.
 
Thanks! We didn't have to resort to the crate - she snapped out of it maybe half an hour after I posted. Quite suddenly, like it never happened...
But we'll keep it ready to go for tomorrow if she heads back into it - we're putting the nesting boxes back in tonight just in case, and I'm sure someone will go broody again tomorrow.
That's great! Makes it so much easier when the hormones cooperate!
 
she snapped out of it maybe half an hour after I posted. Quite suddenly, like it never happened
Determining broodiness usually takes more than a half a day....more like 2-3 days/nights.

My go-to signs of a broody.
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.
 
Determining broodiness usually takes more than a half a day....more like 2-3 days/nights.

My go-to signs of a broody.
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.
Yes, they've all been doing that as a precursor - lay an egg, go back in, get grumpy and peck at us (never do that otherwise), go pancake if brought out, go back in if brought out, making a very distinct call the whole time.

But if we bring them out as soon as we notice it (we're home all day), water down their chest, give some cold food, don't let them go back in the box, take away all other eggs, distract them with food and company - it seems to break it before it gets 'bad'.

Our girl the other day just had it much longer and worse than the others, but she is quite different than her sisters.
 

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