Broody Hen, I think?

[Lisa-Lu]

I have a 10 month old bantam cochin who is kind of acting broody and just wanted advice. She is sitting in the nesting box all day, until we move her out and she forgets about it for an hour or so, and then goes right back. She will free range with her friends for a while, eat and drink and then go back. The others will root her out of the nesting box if she is in their favorite one, and she will move to another. I do not have fertilized eggs and do not intend on getting any. As long as she is still eating and drinking, is there any reason I should do the cage thing to break her behaviour? Will she eventually quit?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She may eventually quit and she may not. No one knows what hormones she has going on.
If hatching chicks is not in your future, the appropriate thing to do is the elevated wire bottom cage. Not doing so at best means you won't get any eggs for a long time and at worst, they can die.
Bantam cochins are one of the most reliably broody hens so this won't be your last rodeo.

 

[azygous]

My experience with broodies has been they are all drama queens and they play to an audience. When they don't see me, they are quiet and content in their cage. As soon as they catch sight of me, though, they stand up and start performing the "you-have-no-right-to-imprison-me-like-this-let-me-out-of-here-I-have-a-mission!" squawking and carrying on. Ignore her. Don't feel sorry for her. Do not feel guilty.

 

[azygous]

I agree with @ChickenCanoe that breaking a broody is the best flock management practice. It preserves the health of the broody hen while freeing up the nest for other layers. It also restores the laying ability of your Cochin much sooner.

Many folks may recognize when they have a broody, but not as many understand the best way to interrupt the process to get the hen back to normal soonest.

Canoe mentioned the wire cage. This is important. You need an air flow under the broody to interrupt her hormones. Simply to remove the broody from the nest when you see her in it doesn't interrupt the hormones. She'd just find another cozy spot to hunker down, warming her underparts and perpetuating her hormones.

By installing a broody in the wire cage with no solid flooring or nest material, you are cooling her body temperature as well as keeping her from finding another spot to brood. This method breaks a broody in about three days. Yes, she has to stay in the cage at night, too.

 

[sourland]

As others have said she may or may not quit on her own. If you don't break her, keep an eye on her to assure that she does not become mite infested or lose too much weight..

 

[ChickenCanoe]

She won't squawk till she is broken. You can put it wherever you want, just make sure it is in a predator proof location with a little food and water.

 

[azygous]

If you have a soft heart, you could let her out of her cage twice a day to dirt bathe. But stand watch over her because broodies take very quick dirt baths. Then when they think no one is watching, they make a beeline for a nest box.

Stand at the ready to grab her and put her back in her cage as she shakes off and eyes the coop. The bath usually takes no longer than three minutes. I've timed them.

I often have suspected it's a sneaky ploy to divert my attention so they can disappear into the nest. Don't underestimate a broody. They are very clever at deception, manipulation, and planning bank heists.

 

[azygous]

Broody behavior is as annoying to the other chickens as it is to us. They get impatient with the constant broody clucking and especially the wild outbursts of pent up rage. Unfortunately, it's all quite normal. It's a lot like a pregnant human mother-to-be and her mood swings and flamboyant food cravings. Hormones can be deadly weapons. Everyone needs to be ready to run for cover.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I think you are making the correct decision, breaking her is for the best. When I use a wire-bottomed cage to break mine I keep them in there 72 hours with food and water but nothing that looks like a nest. Usually 72 hours is enough, but if she heads back to the nest I give her another 72 hours.

There is no telling how long a hen will stay broody. Some will break on their own before 21 days, though that is pretty rare. Some can go for months. I typically collect eggs for mine to hatch after they go broody. That can take a week, so she normally sets for about four weeks before hatch. I've never had one fail to reach four weeks.

Before a pullet or hen even starts laying eggs she builds up a lot of excess fat. I've butchered enough pullets, hens, cockerels, and roosters to know it is extremely obvious, especially when they are in lay. That excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives on so she can stay on the nest instead of having to spend her time looking for food and water. She will lose weight, or as some say condition, but that is fat put there for that purpose. That is not affecting her health until it runs out. Most broody hens will break from being broody by the time this fat runs out but some will not. They can endanger themselves. You are dealing with living animals, you don't get guarantees with any of these behaviors. They are all different.

A poultry science professor once said roost mites kill more broody hens than anything else. Not every flock is infested with roost mites, I've never had them. But you do need to check for them (you should check your regular flock regularly anyway) and treat for them if they are present. If they are not present they won't hurt her.

I've seen a broody hen leave the nest once a day for about 15 minutes to eat, drink, and poop. I don't recall seeing her take a dust bath each time but she would occasionally. This was in cooler weather. When she was off the nest she was in a hurry to take care of her business. In the heat of summer I saw a broody that would leave her nest twice a day for over an hour each time. She was much more relaxed and even hung with the rest of the flock a bit. There have been many broodies that I never see off the nest, but since they are not pooping in the nest I know they are coming off. They can be pretty sneaky. You are dealing with living animals, you don't get guarantees with any of these behaviors. They are all different.

Some hens store more fat than others. Some spend more time off the nest eating and drinking so they will use up that stored fat slower. I can't tell you how long any one specific hen will go before she uses up all of the stored fat, let alone how long she can go before she breaks from being broody. You guessed it. You are dealing with living animals, you don't get guarantees with any of these behaviors. They are all different.

The longer a hen is broody the more of that excess fat she uses. Before she starts to lay again she has to replace it. The sooner you break her the sooner she will start to lay again. But that is a generalization. I've had some hens take two to four weeks to start laying again even when I broke them really fast. I've had a couple of hens late in summer start the molt early and have to finish the molt before they started laying. I've seen a broody raising chicks in late summer do that too, molt while taking care of them. Then I had my only green egg layer at the time go through the entire process of hatching and raising chicks. She started laying at 2-1/2 weeks after hatch and weaned her chicks at three weeks. To me that is quite unusual but then, each one is different.

 

[Lisa-Lu]

She is in chicken prison. She is Not happy but did go straight to the food dish I put in there for her. It was almost dark when we moved her, she did her usual squawking but quieted down.