Broody Hen

[joshjhansen]

First post here and second year with 3 chickens. I have a golden sex link Dolly that will not get out of her box and she won't lay. I assume she is "broody". But I have no roosters and I am not looking to breed her. What can I do? She is the queen of the coop and my egg production went from 1 egg per hen per day to 1 egg total every other day. She won't lay but she is still eating and drinking when I pull her out of her box. This has been going on about a month and she has lost some feathers as well. When will things be back to normal like the good old days a month ago? Thanks for your help. and BTW my flock is 1 Auracauna (Iris), 1 Wyandotte (Violet) and 1 Golden Sex Link (Dolly)

 

[justusnak]

Josh.....breaking a broody is hard, and sometimes IMPOSSIBLE!! Take her off the nest....put her outside, and lock her out. Dont give her access to the nest for the day. If she is persistant....try a cool sits bath. NOT cold...just cool, trying to break her broody fever. Maybe you can get a water bottle, freeze it, and place it in the nest. If she has been broody for a month, likely she will be coming off the nest soon. Good luck with her, and i love thier names! Got pics!?

 

[urbanfred]

Well, I have a featherlegged bantam cochin who goes broody twice a year, sits in an empty nest, gets skinny, and scares me that she won't pull out of it. She is doing this right now, just lke your girl. I take her out of the nest and she eats/drinks, but runs right back. Locking the coop just makes her frantic. I can't handle this, so I let her back in shortly. Guess this doesn't work.

I heard that if you dunk them in a bucket of water, this will bring them out of this state, so I did it three evenings in a row. She is now clean and beautiful, but it had the opposite effect, as now she doesn't come out of the nest unless I bring her.

I have also heard that putting her in a wire cage for three days will do it, because the open bottom doesn't let the heat build up and she loses the drive to set. I'm too soft-hearted to put her through that, but others say it works fine, with no problems. I imagine she will just have to cycle through it like last time. Share with us what happens with yours.

 

[Gracefulspice]

Mine just got over being broody 2 weeks ago. It took 6 days of moving her off the nest and locking her outside when I was home. It was very hard to see her basically nerotic trying to get back to the nest, but I didn't want her to get sick either. I too tried to dunk her in my daughters 12" pool.
I did'nt stuff her under tho. I just let her sit there. I made sure the water hit her belly. I did that 3 times too. I don't think it help...but I found out they can float

Kinda like a duck. Once she was done being broody it took 12 days for her to lay again. Good Luck with her. It's very trying.

 

[joshjhansen]

Dolly has finally come out of it and she is getting her feathers back. I just let her do what she needed to do on her own and she seems fine. I too don't have the heart to dunk her or put ice under her and since they are really just my pets it doesn't really matter if they lay eggs consistently. It took about a month and then everyone was back to normal. If it keeps happening at least I will know a bit more. I am glad she decided to molt in the spring (is this typical?) and not in the winter. Thank you for all of your great advice and help. I really appreciate it.

 

[DuckLady]

I have a broody silkie and a broody scovy duck right now. I just make sure they get enough to eat and watch their general health and give them a golf ball to sit on. They will get over it eventually.