Broody hen broody breaker??

[NewcoopNewpoop]

Am I doing this correctly? How will i know she is done being broody?

Also, will broodies eventually 'unbroody' themselves if I dont do anything?

 

[AinaWGSD]

Looks like a good setup to me. Generally I try to leave them in the broody buster for 24-48 hours then let them out. If they go back to the nest then back in the buster they go.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Looks fine, and you'll need to test them to see if they're broken. After 48 hrs let her out and if she returns to the nest at all, lock her up another 24 hours and check again. If you get repeat broodies you'll get a feeling for how long it takes to break a particular bird, as some are easy to break and others are a real PITA.

Will broodies "unbroody" themselves after time? They should... but not all do, though that's relatively rare. Mainly I break them because they're disruptive to the flock, so having them be disruptive for 48 hrs is preferable to 3-4 weeks of disruption.

 

[Sally PB]

I use that set up. After 2-3 days, I let Widget (it's always Widget; she's my serial broody) out at roost time. If she goes to the roost, she's done. If she goes into the nest box, she isn't.

 

[NewcoopNewpoop]

I use that set up. After 2-3 days, I let Widget (it's always Widget; she's my serial broody) out at roost time. If she goes to the roost, she's done. If she goes into the nest box, she isn't.

I like this idea quite a bit. I hate keeping Cloud caged up without her friends at night anyway.
I'm soft. Yes I want her unbroody but ohh how the broody breaker makes me sad.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I have the same set up with one minor exception. I put a roosting bar in the crate for her for sleeping.

I've also found that the sooner you catch the broodiness, the less time it takes to un-brood.

Don't know if your brooder does this, but my serial brooder has a telltale cluck when she goes in the crate. It persists until she's broken. So that's another way I can usually tell she's ready to be let out.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Educator @Ridgerunner says that before they go broody, hens lay up a good layer of fat to sustain them during their "confinement." He says it's usually enough to sustain them for around 5 weeks and we don't need to worry that they will starve themselves to death. He says that when their fat reserves are depleted they will recover from their broodiness, it's Nature's way. I do not know if he uses a Broody Buster or anything similar or not. But he makes a lot of sense. I have a third hen going broody right now. I'm wondering if I can just leave her alone and see what happens...

 

[Ridgerunner]

Also, will broodies eventually 'unbroody' themselves if I dont do
anything?

I've butchered enough pullets, hens, cockerels, and roosters to see the fat build-up before they even start laying. The difference is obvious. It is nature's way for survival of the species. By living off of that stored fat while taking care of the eggs instead of having to be off looking for food and water, they can survive being broody. When the chicks hatch, the hens can start eating themselves. If the eggs don't hatch for some reason then the hen should break from being broody so she can lay eggs and try to raise another brood.

When will a broody hen use up all of that excess fat? I don't know. Different hens store up different amounts of fat. Broody hens typically come off of the nest every now and then to poop so they don't foul the nest. While off, they typically eat and drink. Some are off of the nest for just a few minutes, some can stay off for over an hour each time they come off. They can eat a lot more in an hour than in a few minutes. I arbitrarily use five weeks as how long I'll allow them to be broody. There is no scientific study to come to five weeks, it's just a number I picked as my deadline and it seems to work. Many broody hens may go 7 weeks or more before they run out.

I probably should mention this. In nature, most broody hens hatch chicks long before that fat runs out so this is not tested every time. But if a hen's eggs do not hatch then she either breaks from being broody when the fat runs out or she dies. That's a pretty strong way to reinforce that evolutionary trait.

This does not mean that every hen on earth that goes broody will break from being broody when the fat runs out. There are a lot of broody hens on this earth, you can get an exception. To be honest I haven't had a lot of hens stay broody that long, I break them before they reach this point so my data points are few.

Why do I break my broody hens if I don't want them to hatch eggs? They can be a little disruptive to the flock, but not enough to bother me. When they are broody, they are not laying eggs. I like the eggs. The longer they are broody the more fat reserve they use up. They have to replace that fat reserve before they start laying again which takes time so I miss out on more eggs. I do not see any benefits to a hen being broody if I do not want her to hatch and raise chicks. I do see a benefit to her laying eggs so I break the ones I don't want to hatch chicks.

I know, a long answer to a short question. The short answer is that most will become unbroody if you don't do anything.

 

[NewcoopNewpoop]

She had been broody for maybe 2 weeks before we stepped in. I guess I just felt so guilty about the cage thing, and was curious to see how it would work if we tried other things. So it seems I maybe kinda made this isolation worse on her if it ends up taking unusually long to break her.

There is a 2x4 in the cage for her to step on to stay off of the bars of the cage. She is desperate to get out of the cage today, which sucks. But I let her out this morning and she took her booty straight to the nest box before half an hour had gone by.

 

[Happy Novogens]

She had been broody for maybe 2 weeks before we stepped in. I guess I just felt so guilty about the cage thing, and was curious to see how it would work if we tried other things. So it seems I maybe kinda made this isolation worse on her if it ends up taking unusually long to break her.

There is a 2x4 in the cage for her to step on to stay off of the bars of the cage. She is desperate to get out of the cage today, which sucks. But I let her out this morning and she took her booty straight to the nest box before half an hour had gone by.

You tolerated her broodiness much longer than I do. Like @Ridgerunner , I don't like being deprived of eggs. Also, my gal tends to sit in the favored nestbox that all the others like to use. So out she goes.

No need to feel guilty. When you say she was desperate to get out of her cage, that's not entirely accurate. The only thing she's desperate for is to get back in the nestbox. Think of it as breaking an addiction by going "cold turkey." As far as her being "isolated" in the cage, she is no less isolated when she sits all day in the nestbox. But the sooner she's broken, the sooner she's out with the rest of the flock.

The 2 x 4 is fine, but if she's used to roosting at night, you may want to consider putting a roosting bar in the crate for her. It's going to take at least a couple days/nights in the cage.