Broody Hen Thread!

[KarliR]

How is the cold bath thing working?

 

[yyz0yyz0]

What is your best advice on breaking her?
I think your right, she isn't very well wired haha! Poor girl

I've had good luck with a wire dog crate. I put the crate under the coop up on blocks/boards, so air can circulate underneath. Put the Broody hen in the crate with food and water and leave her for several days(some leave till she starts laying again).

From my understanding this works because the hen can't make a nice warm nest on the raised wire floor of the dog crate so after a few days of trying they just give up.

It has worked pretty well for me with several broody hens. I have a large crate with a broody and 12 eggs and a 2nd hen has gone broody, so I'm gonna use my smaller crate to break her.

 

[KarliR]

Thank you so much! I will get her set up this afternoon.

 

[chicksurreal]

Nessie, our Dark Cornish girl who hatched chicks about 8 weeks ago is broody again. Her "chicks" are still sleeping with her in a separate coop. We integrated them into the main flock during the day but they still choose to go back to the small coop at night. I think it's too soon for Nessie to be setting on eggs again, she's not skinny or unhealthy in any way, but if she still has her last chicks with her it seems too soon.


After she lays her egg for the day I take her out of the nest shut the coop door so she can't get back in and she runs around with everyone else for the rest of the day, although she fluffs up and shrieks if anybody even looks at her. I have to do that every day or she'll just sit on the nest giving me broody attitude. Is it okay to continue on like this or should I put her in a broody breaker?

 

[Majd]

Aaaaaack!! I might have dropped that sucker!!

Almost did :O

 

[Majd]

Sorry

How do I force her to get up and eat/drink?

also can you give more info on the mistake I made?  Not really sure what is meant by "monitored her nesting place"?

thanks

i was half asleep, like when you moved her somewhere esle safer! She will be less comfortable leaving the nest to releive herself! No mistake everything good but just take her out of the nest once everyday and ebcourage her to go eat/drink /poop

 

[Majd]

U

Force them out??   I have had 12+ broodys just this year and never once have I ever forced them out of their nest. I open the door for them once a day, usually around 3pm and close it an hour later, If they get up most times I don't see them, sometimes I do. Never have I ever had a broody nearly starve herself  let alone harm herself hatching eggs..  I do believe we humans put our own standards and expectations on the girls and don't really understand the whole process.

Telling someone they may have to force a broody off of the nest will do nothing short of perhaps someone making a mistake with the hen and causing her injury or the eggs to be lost.

Yes totally true when she is in her CHOSEN nest: she will get up mostly in early morning to do her stuff, but USUALLY(at least in my experience) whe she is moved to another location she usually is a bit scared/discouraged to leave because she's not familiar and comfortable with the new nestimg area. Even though every hen is different i've had hens still sit for many days in a row not getting up from their own nest! Stubborn girls... Those usually reach the due date exhasted and skinny... So i just check that everyone is healthy and getting up by: watching them get up/feeling the crop/manually checking their physical status is any is underweight... And never had anything happen to their eggs/ hatch rate/ their own condition...
So you do have an important point but not for all situations and a couple pages back their is one user who had his buff orp starve herself that she couldn't get on her feet when they hatched! And another one who had a broody poop all over the eggs everyday!

 

[AmericanMom]

What is your best advice on breaking her?
I think your right, she isn't very well wired haha! Poor girl

Personally, I put two this morning in a hanging rabbit cage. No hay or nesting material, just them and a wire floor suspended off the ground. I put food and water with them, close the door and leave them for three days and four nights. You want the cool air to get under them, that has always done the trick for me.. Some say dunk their bellies in cold water but with some of the hens I have I treasure my face in one, unscratched piece..

BTW, the two that went... One hatched chicks for me already and did a great job, left them at 5 weeks, laid an egg a day for a week and decided to go broody again.. I want her to take a break.. Broody #2... bad timing, were going on vacation and I promised my neighbor no broody chickens while I was gone that she would have to deal with ... They are broody # 13 and 14 since January

 

[grammato7]

I have two broody hens on nests. Saw two baby black chicks last evening. One was just outside of the nest and dead. The other one was walking around. We only looked a few minutes as the mother hen got nervous. Hope to see some more this evening. Took away the dead chick. Will have to keep watch and see how things go.

 

[chicksurreal]

Personally, I put two this morning in a hanging rabbit cage. No hay or nesting material, just them and a wire floor suspended off the ground. I put food and water with them, close the door and leave them for three days and four nights. You want the cool air to get under them, that has always done the trick for me.. Some say dunk their bellies in cold water but with some of the hens I have I treasure my face in one, unscratched piece..

BTW, the two that went... One hatched chicks for me already and did a great job, left them at 5 weeks, laid an egg a day for a week and decided to go broody again.. I want her to take a break.. Broody #2... bad timing, were going on vacation and I promised my neighbor no broody chickens while I was gone that she would have to deal with ... They are broody # 13 and 14 since January

Wow!

We've had three go broody since January and a couple more making noises about it and I am bouncing off the walls as it is, I can't imagine 14!