Broody hen --this is stressful!

[Rudyk]

So one of my hens went broody. I tried dumping her in a bucket of water. She squawked loudly for five minutes then went back to her nest. I've moved her out of coop and locked her out all day. She paces around then finds her favourite dust bathing spot and then eventually returns to nest to be broody again. This morning I put her in a wire-bottom elevated cage and she went ballistic, squawking like crazy. Our by laws are not hen friendly so after ten minutes I let her out. When she went around the house still squawking loudly I tried to force her back...she flew over the fence for the first time ever! I tried to coax her back in with raisins. She followed the trail but stopped shy of the gate and refused to go in the yard. Finally, after quite a chase, my son and I managed to grab her and threw her back over the fence. Now I'm afraid to try anything else in case she goes crazy again.

Thoughts?

 

[donrae]

Well, if you're stressed, imagine the poor hen! Put her in a wire bottomed cage and cover it with a blanket or such to give her dark and quiet. Put her in a garage or some such to muffle noises if you need to. Breaking a broody doesn't happen right away, it usually takes a good 3-5 days. You just need to confine her off the nest and quit messing with her so much, let her settle down. If you can direct a low setting fan at the bottom of her cage to keep her underside cooled off, that helps also.