Broody hen laid an egg in chicken jail

[JacinLarkwell]

I see a lot of talk about broody hens, I am stupid about this. Can't I just let nature take its course? The drop in egg production will not be a problem for me as I don't think I will be selling eggs... UNless they lay like crazy then I will be wanting to get rid of eggs.

Yes you can if you have a way to rehome or house the resulting chicks

 

[aart]

I see a lot of talk about broody hens, I am stupid about this. Can't I just let nature take its course? The drop in egg production will not be a problem for me as I don't think I will be selling eggs... UNless they lay like crazy then I will be wanting to get rid of eggs.

If you don't want them to hatch out chicks and are willing to manage the process,
it's best to break them asap.
They can lose condition sometimes(tho rarely) unto death.

 

[MissE]

I see a lot of talk about broody hens, I am stupid about this. Can't I just let nature take its course? The drop in egg production will not be a problem for me as I don't think I will be selling eggs... UNless they lay like crazy then I will be wanting to get rid of eggs.

Just remember that on average, 50% of the chicks will be males. Not a big deal to me if one of mine goes broody during certain times of the year. I have multiple freezers. Late in the year I would probably break them because I don't want to process in the winter and its harder for me to keep birds separated when I can't use chicken tractors.

 

[AuntieD]

If you don't want them to hatch out chicks and are willing to manage the process,
it's best to break them asap.
They can lose condition sometimes(tho rarely) unto death.

When you say "They can lose condition..." What exactly do you mean? The only reference or experience I have to raising chickens comes from watching what my grandmother did when I was a little kid. We almost always had chickens about but they were pretty independent and usually not kept in cages. The only ones I raised were a batch I bought for meat chickens and they were pen raised and processed all at the same time. So bear with my dumb questions please.

 

[aart]

When you say "They can lose condition..." What exactly do you mean?

They don't eat much while setting.....if they set for longer than the 21 days it takes to hatch chicks, they can start to lose too much weight and become unhealthy overall.

 

[Asaria1]

I spent 60 days trying to get a broody hen to quit sitting. Finally I let her hatch one egg (November). It would have taken less time to just let her hatch a few eggs to begin with. 21 days versus 60 days.

*****Edited to add the most important detail that affects the hens’ health and laying ability:

Broody hens don’t eat much and become de-conditioned (lose breast meat) over the 21 days it takes to incubate eggs. It looks like the hen is in a trance until she hatches eggs. Then the broody trance is broken, and mother hens get up to show their hatchlings how to scratch for food. That exercise reconditions the broody hens’ bodies to lay again.

So my opinion is that the safest, most reliable way to break the broody trance, and avoid having the hen become de-conditioned and starving to death, and bring her back into lay, is to allow her *2 week* vacation to be broody, after which she *hatches* a *few* eggs (or sneak putting a few chicks under her at night).

Here is the Easter Egger chick named “November” with her black bantam hatch mother.
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Sooo cute! And thank you for that! What do you do if you dont have the room for anymore chickens? Thats kind of what im facing right now. I have FOUR broody hens, all of which were impossible to break, so I gave them each one fertile egg. However... I just dont have the space! Also, once those eggs hatch, Im afraid it will be a war zone with all the momma’s getting territorial over the babies!

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sooo cute! And thank you for that! What do you do if you dont have the room for anymore chickens? Thats kind of what im facing right now. I have FOUR broody hens, all of which were impossible to break, so I gave them each one fertile egg. However... I just dont have the space! Also, once those eggs hatch, Im afraid it will be a war zone with all the momma’s getting territorial over the babies!

Best case scenario... nothing terrible happens. Worst case scenario, injured or dead chicks.

When you say impossible to break, what have you tried in order to break them? What are your plans for the chicks if you hatch them, since you admit you don't have room for them?

 

[Asaria1]

Best case scenario... nothing terrible happens. Worst case scenario, injured or dead chicks.

When you say impossible to break, what have you tried in order to break them? What are your plans for the chicks if you hatch them, since you admit you don't have room for them?

I put them in jail, i gave them baths, and they would snap out of it for a little bit, then right back to broody! I plan on rehoming momma with baby as a pair. I’ll probably rehome 3 sets.

 

[Mamatomany123]

I put them in jail, i gave them baths, and they would snap out of it for a little bit, then right back to broody! I plan on rehoming momma with baby as a pair. I’ll probably rehome 3 sets.

How long did you keep them in jail for? I'm on day 5 with mine. She seems fine during the day but then right back to the nesting box she goes at night. Right now shes confined for 72 hours in the crate, no matter if I think she broke or not because she knows how to act apparently

 

[rosemarythyme]

I put them in jail, i gave them baths, and they would snap out of it for a little bit, then right back to broody! I plan on rehoming momma with baby as a pair. I’ll probably rehome 3 sets.

Hope you have a way of keeping them all separate (if the need arises) until you can rehome them, in case the mamas all decide to have a fight club with the kids in the middle of it.