Broody Hen Hatching a Pile of Dirt (help)

[SBFChickenGirl]

She looks like she is in chicken jail.

 

[aart]

She looks like she is in chicken jail.

Broody Jail.

 

[dalasgalas]

Broody Jail.

When I read posts of folks complaining about broody hens I did not appreciate how much of a PITA it truly is. Plus...really? Really chicken? You aren't even sitting on an egg. And it's almost December.

 

[Shadrach]

breaking out of the coop at night to sit under a bush on a pile of dirt sounds like a very determined hen.
I would usually go with @HenOnAJuneBug but in your case it could well be that broody jail
is going to save you some work.

 

[aart]

When I read posts of folks complaining about broody hens I did not appreciate how much of a PITA it truly is.

It is, indeed... if they just go once and get over it in 3 days, it's not bad.
The bird pictured in jail, went broody 7 more times after hatching in March.
She now lives somewhere else in Sept, where she hasn't gone broody again...yet.

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

breaking out of the coop at night to sit under a bush on a pile of dirt sounds like a very determined hen.

Like this broody was. I think she had her eye on that open door to the coop I locked her out of (behind her).

 

[Shadrach]

Yep, I always make sure a stubborn broody hen can't see her nest site. You just know they're thinking 'as soon as I get the chance I'm going to go and sit in that nest'

 

[HenOnAJuneBug]

I would usually go with @HenOnAJuneBug but in your case it could well be that broody jail is going to save you some work.

If I had a jail I'd use it. Just making do with what I have,

 

[Shadrach]

If I had a jail I'd use it. Just making do with what I have,

No, seriously, I've found that more often than not just taking the eggs at dusk and putting them on their perch for the night does the trick.
Sometimes, I bring them into the house and put them in one of those human baby cage things, just to keep them from getting under my feet.

 

[dalasgalas]

No, seriously, I've found that more often than not just taking the eggs at dusk and putting them on their perch for the night does the trick.
Sometimes, I bring them into the house and put them in one of those human baby cage things, just to keep them from getting under my feet.

I've been locking her in the coop at night. On mornings where she is still in the coop and hasn't broken out, she makes a beeline to the dirt hole and barricades herself in there. Yesterday she managed to maneuver around all these sticks and bricks I used to fill the hole up. I found her jammed in the back of the hole when I got home from work.

Cage it is!