Broody hen won't leave her nest at all

[buttersbrood]

Hi there!

We have a very, very broody Leghorn. Strange, I know. She's never been broody before and is about 4 years old. We tried to break her brood, but no luck. So we have given her fertile eggs. This is day 7.

The problem is that she refuses to leave her nest. We have to take her off daily. If we don't (as we did on the first few days) she just sits. She's in a dog kennel with a run, and there are no broody poops, so we are certain she's not leaving the nest. We also watch her.

We give her food close by now, within reach of the nest, and water, as we realized she wouldn't even walk 50 cm to her food. She is pretty thin now, but eating and drinking. Broody poops when we take her off the nest. When she us off, she's pretty bright and active.

Do we really have to feed/water/toilet her like this for another 2 weeks? She's a bit high needs

Thanks!

 

[Jada22]

Very possibly yes! I had a silkie the same. She also ended up with a staggered hatch. Several days between eggs (and she would not give up on them so I couldn’t incubate remaining eggs) she was a lot of work

 

[buttersbrood]

Very possibly yes! I had a silkie the same. She also ended up with a staggered hatch. Several days between eggs (and she would not give up on them so I couldn’t incubate remaining eggs) she was a lot of work

Oh funny! Not the answer I had hoped for tough
I guess we'll have to treat her like the princess she clearly thinks she is. Me er had a broody like it

 

[buttersbrood]

Oh funny! Not the answer I had hoped for tough
I guess we'll have to treat her like the princess she clearly thinks she is. Me er had a broody like it

*never

 

[Jada22]

Oh funny! Not the answer I had hoped for tough
I guess we'll have to treat her like the princess she clearly thinks she is. Me er had a broody like it

Maybe you’ll be lucky and she’ll start leaving herself. For now she makes the rules

 

[buttersbrood]

Maybe you’ll be lucky and she’ll start leaving herself. For now she makes the rules

She sure does

 

[Yardmom]

If you hope for her to get off on her own it might help if the food is not in her reach. By giving her food on the nest you have taken away her incentive to go off. If you are getting her off each day anyway she will go eat when you pull her off. If she really was not getting off you would see broody poops. In the nest. I actually pull my broodies off the nest each day because they are kenneled inside the chicken coop. My larger kennels are big enough for the hens to get off the nest and do their business. Not all of them will. I know when they don't because of the mess on the eggs.

 

[buttersbrood]

If you hope for her to get off on her own it might help if the food is not in her reach. By giving her food on the nest you have taken away her incentive to go off. If you are getting her off each day anyway she will go eat when you pull her off. If she really was not getting off you would see broody poops. In the nest. I actually pull my broodies off the nest each day because they are kenneled inside the chicken coop. My larger kennels are big enough for the hens to get off the nest and do their business. Not all of them will. I know when they don't because of the mess on the eggs.

Thanks for your reply @Yardmom!
I think you're right, that's what we did try at the start.

We tried not giving her food initially, but she did not eat for 3 days! Nothing... No broody poops either. When we did pull her off the nest, the broody poop was absolutely enormous. But she did not eat then either, even though she was off for almost an hour. She did drink.

At this stage, she's lost quite a lot of weight and I worry about her losing more if I remove the food, as it might take her days to leave the nest. She seems to be able to hold on to her poops and hold off eating for days...

So I'm worried about trying again?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

You don't need to take her off. She comes off when you aren't around. It is a quick thing. Usually once a day but sometimes less often. The first thing they do is kick out a huge stinky bowel movement, have a drink and a bite, a dust bath if one is available and then right back on the nest and into their trance till the next time they get the urge. I've had nearly 100 setters and none have committed suicide by not eating or drinking.
I once had a black Leghorn that went broody a couple times a year and raised several clutches for me.
When you were trying to break broodiness, did you use the centuries old tried and true method of the elevated wire bottom cage?

Broody hens are most successful when ignored. They've survived for millions of years without human intervention without going extinct.

 

[buttersbrood]

You don't need to take her off. She comes off when you aren't around. It is a quick thing. Usually once a day but sometimes less often. The first thing they do is kick out a huge stinky bowel movement, have a drink and a bite, a dust bath if one is available and then right back on the nest and into their trance till the next time they get the urge. I've had nearly 100 setters and none have committed suicide by not eating or drinking.
I once had a black Leghorn that went broody a couple times a year and raised several clutches for me.
When you were trying to break broodiness, did you use the centuries old tried and true method of the elevated wire bottom cage.

Hello @ChickenCanoe !
Thanks for your reply.
Of course you're right: instinctively I know no chicken would commit suicide by not eating, it goes against any sort of species survival. But, but....
She honestly did not eat for 3 days (we heaped her food, all intact) and no broody poop on the best or in the small run.
I guess it's a matter of trusting she'll eventually get off the nest and eat etc, while at the same time making sure she doesn't waste away. For which I don't have the nerve! Even though I know eventually she'll eat and drink. I guess I'm uncomfortable and don't dare to wait, even though I know you're probably right... Just because it took her 3 days last time, and then WE took her off the nest...

Thank you for your common sense response!