Broody for too long

[rogermagno]

My Easter Egger has been broody for 4 weeks, maybe 5. I don’t have a rooster and have been removing eggs relatively quickly each day from the nest boxes so she has nothing to sit on. I have been picking her up and putting her in the chicken run or out in the grass to free range a bit 1-2 times a day and she definitely eats, drinks and even takes a dust bath sometimes when I do that, but after no more than 30 mins, she is back in a nest box. I didn’t expect her to be broody for this long, do I need to lock her out of the coop all day at this point?

 

[sourland]

I would cage her away from her nest site until she breaks broodiness.

 

[SueT]

I learned about breaking broodies here on BYC. A wire bottom cage is recommended, and in a cooler place if possible. I have a big cage in the basement. A newly broody hen can usually be broken in 3 days plus 3 nights, occasionally in 2. I would guess yours will take quite a bit longer. It isn’t good for them to brood for extended periods......

 

[rosemarythyme]

x3 on the cage. Expect it to take longer than the usual recommended 2 or 3 days because it's gone on for this long.

Broody jail: Put her in an isolation cage with some food and water, in sight of the others (in the coop if it's not too hot or in/near the run is ideal). A wire cage elevated to air flow under her would be the best option, however I've used everything from a brooder to a dog exercise pen.

Keep her in the cage around the clock for about 2 days. At that time, if she's shows fewer signs of broodiness (puffing up, flattening down and growling, tik tik tik noise) you can let her out to test her. If she runs back to the nest at any point (usually they don't do it immediately, but maybe after 15 minutes, maybe an hour) then she's not yet sufficiently broken and needs to go back to the cage for another 24 hours. Then let her out and test her again. Repeat until she's no longer going to the nest box.

IF the isolation cage is not safe for overnight stay (i.e. sits outside the run, run not predator proof) then put her on the roost at night, and retrieve her from the nest box the next morning and put her back in the cage. It may take a little longer this way but better than letting a predator get to her.

 

[5 Points Wingfeather]

Cage works for me too. 48 hours seems to do the trick. Left cage in coop but set it up on blocks of wood.

 

[rgardiner7000]

I had the BROODIEST hen. We tried everything for WEEKS and WEEKS. She would get all puffed up and charge around like a turkey with her wings out, she'd scream whenever we caught her in the boxes. We tried everything from dunking to frozen water bottles. We tried chicken "jail", but kept the cage outside and that didn't work at all. BUT FINALLY, we did chicken jail inside in a wire cage, in a place in our house where she was constantly disturbed (lovingly) by our noises and with good AC and it worked.