Broody Hen? Do I *need* to break the broody?

[The Bougie Coop]

I have a cochin bantam who has gone broody and she has spent the past few days in the nest box. I take her out occasionally to forage around and eat something, and I have to take her out of the nestbox at night so she can roost in the coop because my other two hens want to stay with her and are wanting to roost outside the nestbox and I don’t like that because I really want them roosting in the coop at night for various reasons (my boxes are in my run and there’s no coop access from the boxes). My question is, if I don’t care that she isn’t laying, can I just let her be broody or will it cause problems for her? I don’t have problems going out at night and moving her to the coop, but I want to make sure I am not causing her any issues by allowing her to brood. I am also worried she is going to cause my frizzle cochin bantam to get broody as well, and then my little green queen bantam is going to be lonely because she has no inclination to be broody and she will have to wander all by herself. This is my first broody girl as I only started with chickens last year. I do have a small dog crate I can use to break her broody but at the same time, I feel like this is a natural process and the only reason people usually want to break it it because they want their hens to lay if they aren’t raising chicks. I am limited to how many chickens I can have, and I already have two older chicks in the brooder so giving her eggs isn’t an option.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

It's always best to break a broody hen if you aren't going to let her hatch. The process of setting is depleting as they only eat and drink once a day. Most broody hens will break because they have lost enough weight that they can't continue. External parasites can also get out of control because they also don't dust bath or groom as much.

 

[ChookaPete]

You have three options:

• If she just started being broody = give her fertile eggs to hatch
• If she has been broody for almost 21 days = give her newly hatched chicks on the eve of the 21st day
• If you have no fertile eggs or newly hatched chicks = isolate her in a wire dog crate placed on bricks above the ground, with a log inside to perch on as well as water and food.

 

[CraziChknLady]

I have to say, I had 1 hen go broody and did the crate trick but modified it a bit. Although I had an old " rabbit hutch with enclosure that's pinned down in the ground outside. I took the tray out of the rabbit hutch to make it a more like a pergola, then stuck branches for a roost. She could walk around but no place for nesting. Due to the location of this, I would take her out of this at night and put her in a cage in the main coop. The cage is technically a ferret/ rat cage where I had to repurpose, putting rubber mats in the bottom. It's originally made to put a tray. I put branches in here as well for a roost. I couldn't take the mats out as the spacing was way too big for the bars underneath and I was afraid she would hurt her legs. I repeated this for several days. On the 3rd or 4th night instead of placing in cage I placed her on the roost. She had been broody for almost a week. Had a 2nd banty hen after this and it took 4-5 days for her. The whole process worked like a charm though! I do not want broody hens or chicks this year due to having a Mycoplasma positive flock.