Broody hen gone broodier in broody jail! Oy.

[Daniellebell1]

Hello chickenfriends,
I have a small flock of 4 sweet ladies. They're all just shy of 18 months old. One is a buff rock, Zippy, who has gone broody a couple of times in the past. I've been able to break her pretty quickly by keeping her in the coop, which worked out just fine because my hens preferred a nesting spot between two fence posts in my back yard. However, since that time, I had to replace a bunch of rotting boards in the fence, which effectively eliminated their access to the nesting spot. So they switched to laying in the coop, behind the actual nesting box I'd made for them (eyeroll.) But now Zippy has gone broody again. So I made a new broody jail out of a dog kennel with layer feed, water, and pine chips on the bottom. Aaaaand now, about 12 hours later, she's even broodier, if that's possible? Like, before she would puff up and fuss, but now she puffs up and hisses and starts aggressively pecking my hand when I change her water.
So here's my question. Should I take out the pine shavings so that it's not comfortable for her to make a nest? I don't want to torture her!
Advice is welcome.

 

[rayrose]

It should be a dog crate with only a wire floor, not a kennel and should be raised several inches off the ground. The air needs to circulate beneath her, in order to cool down her and her hormones.

 

[sourland]

It's not torture - make her uncomfortable. If possible a raised wire flooring is appropriate. Good luck. Or you could always give her some fertile eggs or foster chicks to her.

 

[Daniellebell1]

Thank you all!! I didn't realize about the cooling off part--I thought the point was just to restrict her access to the nesting spot. Thanks for clearing that up.
@sourland , I would love to give her some chicks to foster, especially since it seems like she really wants to be a mama hen. But I'm not quiiiite ready to give in to the chicken-math yet. Once I finish nursing school, I'll be able to better support my chicken habit
@MLCfromTennessee and @Aunt Angus , unfortunately, she wasn't leaving the nesting spot to dust bathe, drink, or eat. Instead she would eat the eggs she was sitting on. Messy, inconvenient, and potentially contagious! She also got sore, red skin on her breast...I assume it was irritation from when she was trying to clean off the raw egg? So not breaking her just isn't a good option for now.
@DobieLover , ahhh yes. Ok that makes sense. We're in New Orleans, so it's murderously hot and humid.
@Overo Mare , thank you for the picture--that's a helpful visual! I had seen folks post other similar setups, and I literally just thought "Oh cool, they happen to have a wire crate. I happen to have a travel kennel, so that's probably just fine."
@Viergacht, do you find that using a puppy pad gives the desired cooling effect? Or does it just keep her out of the nest box?

Y'all. You are so helpful. I appreciate your wisdom and experience! And Zippy doesn't know it yet, but she does too. I'll revisit the construction of my broody jail and let you know how it turns out.
Warmly,
Danielle

 

[Daniellebell1]

Holy cannoli. Zippy is NOT a happy hen.

I found an inexpensive wire crate on craigslist, popped it up onto cinder blocks underneath our fig tree, laid down hardware cloth, and transferred her in. Y'all. She was PISSED. You know the phrase "mad as a wet hen"? I would like to formally propose that it be changed to "mad as a broody hen." Daaaaaaang.

On the other hand, the other chickens have now been checking out the dog crate I had Zippy in before, and they're like "Oooooh! Luxury!" and trying to get all cozy in there *forehead smack.*

 

[SueT]

Yes take out the shavings. It helps to use a wire bottom cage so air can circulate under her. For mine it takes at least 2 days and 2 nights, sometimes 3, and they snap out of it. (I have the cage in our basement, where it’s much cooler than outdoors.
As you can see, I do give them something to roost on, it’s a half branch. Maybe a piece of 2X4 would work too.

 

[Painted Calls]

The point of broody jail is to lower their body temps. If the floor is solid in any way, it's not going to lower their temperature.

The floor needs to be wire and have NOTHING on it. Think "rabbit hutch". I use a dog crate with hardware cloth on the floor. I raise mine up about 8-12 inches.

Time spent in the jail depends on the breed, the individual bird, and how long she's been allowed to sit prior to jail. Mine usually take at least a week to break. Most longer. And that's with putting them in as soon as I notice broody behavior.

 

[Painted Calls]

I did the same. I don'tnt see the need to break them, its natural. With any of my broodys, I pull them out in the morning to make they get food and water, when they does and hops back in a nesting box I put a handful of food in front of them. They have all done fine with this, they will eventually stop being broody.

Some hens will sit until they die. It's not healthy for them. Especially if they are sitting for no purpose.

 

[Daniellebell1]

THE SAGA OF ZIPPY CONTINUES!

Zippy is back in the plastic crate. But wait. Don't get mad at me yet.

If you're anywhere near New Orleans right now, you know that it is storming like judgment day over here...rain's coming in sideways like when Forrest Gump is in Vietnam. I had a cover over Zippy's wire kennel, and the whole thing in the shelter of the fig tree, but the rain is so heavy and the winds so serious that she was still getting drenched. So I go out there and try to bring the wire kennel inside, but it's too heavy for me. But you know what isn't too heavy for me to move by myself? That's right. The damn plastic crate!!

So I brought her inside and snuggled her in a towel to dry her off a bit, and set her back up in the crate, this time with no pine chips. This could potentially set her broodiness problem back a few days, but I guess I'd rather that than have her drown or get hypothermia.

@aart I can't tell you how much linguistic joy the etiology of this phrase brings me. Love it!

Please see below: pictures of Zippy and me, both mad as wet hens.
The last picture is from this morning. LOOK HOW PUFFY. For the sake of comparison, the other hen there is Ladybird, who is about her same size normally. Let me tell you. Zippy was NOT having it. She's less puffy now, but that may be because she is soaked to the bone.

Oh the adventures of chickening!

Edited: grammar error

 

[Daniellebell1]

@Chkntender , I'm glad you piped in, because I had forgotten to finish the saga! Also, do you think there's something about buffs that makes them broodier than others? Zippy is a Buff Rock, and she's my only hen that goes broody.
Also, the other 3 chickens only nip at me when they're going for treats and miss (which happens more than one might hope.) But Zippy...she's a bitey gal! She explores the whole world with her whole face. Heavy gloves are seriously not a bad idea for next time she goes broody. And yes. There will be a next time. I can just feel it.

The end to the saga came a little too quickly to deserve the word "saga." Because of a week of torrential rain, we kept Zippy in the house in the plastic travel kennel for about two and a half days. I think the temperature difference in our house (with the A/C) was enough to cool her down, even without the wire flooring. I let her back outside to see if she would immediately run to the nesting spot, and she didn't (hooray!) However, on the unfortunate side, she lost her place as top of the pecking order. Ladybird Johnson, who had previously been second-in-command, has taken over, and immediately started bullying Zippy. RUDE. (I mean, rude, yes, but also completely predictable.) Luckily the bullying only lasted for the afternoon. Zippy's not the queen anymore, but she's back in the flock with no trouble. Ladybird is a pretty laid-back head honcho.

So...a short saga, but a ridiculous one nonetheless.