Broody (?) hen mystery

[PatinOxford]

I have a Buff Orpington hen, about 15-16 months old, who has (I think) gone all broody. She sits in the straw in the coop, fluffs herself up, gives out the evil eye when we look at her or touch her, and in general refuses to join the party.

We have no rooster. We collect all eggs daily. She is ... sitting on straw. This has been going on for almost four weeks now.

She exhibits no signs of illness or distress. She apparently is eating and drinking or she'd be dead. She will go out and scratch around sometimes. The other hens are in the coop with her at night, but out foraging during the day. They stay strictly away from her and are laying in the barn rather than the coop.

Is there any cure other than time? I don't want to get fertile eggs and have her hatch them, we free-range and the chicks would be so much cat-bait (many feral cats around here).

 

[azygous]

If she's been sitting in a nest, and there doesn't need to be eggs, her hormones are telling her what to do regardless, she should be close to the end of it. Usually, if there are no chicks popping out under her to trigger her hormones from dictating egg incubation to chick brooding, the hormones will peter out after three weeks.

You can help her by taking her off the nest, putting her with the other chickens, and closing off that nest until she loses the broody symptoms.

 

[PatinOxford]

Oh, good. She is with the other chickens at night when they come into the coop. But we free-range, and the other girls certainly aren't going to hang around with her in the coop when there are bugs to eat. I guess we could close the coop during the day. I'll try it. They have lots of places to shelter so it's no big deal. Thanks!

 

[rosemarythyme]

She's at the tail end of her cycle most likely. In the future if you don't want her to hatch chicks, put her in a wire cage or a pen so she can't sit in the nest, along with food and water. Keep her locked up until she stops showing broody signs, usually 2 to 5 days will do it. Breaking them quickly helps keep them from losing too much weight since they go back to normal behavior much sooner.

 

[boz]

you really should think about a rooster or getting so hatching egg to put under her. I am working on down sizing my flock by selling ,plucking feathers and add to the frez. 6 roo is just way to many for 21 hen

 

[dwdoodles]

Is it safe to leave my Silkie broody hen to literally sit it out. I'm worried about the amount of weighr she's lost. How long does the Broody spell last.

 

[janneluecke]

My Buff Orpington does this every couple of months. Usually it only took 2 or 3 nights in a wire dog crate. (You raise this off the ground so air circulates around her and cools her core body temp) This time she is not responding? I even gave her a cool bath yesterday. Its been over a week and she's driving me nuts! I try closing the coop (once the others are done laying) so she is forced to stay outside and she enjoys being out there but then at night when I let them all back in she heads right for the nesting box instead of the roost so I grab her and put her int he crate again.

Is it safe to leave my Silkie broody hen to literally sit it out. I'm worried about the amount of weighr she's lost. How long does the Broody spell last.

I'm wondering the same thing.
What I want to know is if you can't stop them do they eventually stop on their own and how long does that usually take?

 

[ChirpyChicks1]

Is it safe to leave my Silkie broody hen to literally sit it out. I'm worried about the amount of weighr she's lost. How long does the Broody spell last.

It's not good for their health. Try placing frozen water bottles or frozen bags of veggies under her or beside her. Probably the easiest thing to do it place the hen in a wire cage (I used my rabbit hutch), the thing is you want air getting to their belly area so take the bottom out of the cage and don't sit it directly on the ground. Getting that belly cool will help break them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Is it safe to leave my Silkie broody hen to literally sit it out. I'm worried about the amount of weighr she's lost. How long does the Broody spell last.

3 to 4 weeks I'd say? This is why I feel it's kinder to just break them, rather than letting it go on, if you have no plans on having them hatch or raise chicks.

 

[dwdoodles]

3 to 4 weeks I'd say? This is why I feel it's kinder to just break them, rather than letting it go on, if you have no plans on having them hatch or raise chicks.