Broody hen

[MikeTheGardener]

Ok I have a hen that is constantly wanting to sit on the eggs everytime there is one in the nesting box. So far I have been physically removing her. What else do you recommend?

 

[aart]

Broody Breaker Crate.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Nipple water bottle to crate added after pic taken.

 

[MikeTheGardener]

Broody Breaker Crate.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Nipple water bottle to crate added after pic taken.

Interesting. If her behavior continues I might have to go this route.

 

[aart]

The sooner you do it, the quicker they'll 'break'.