Broody Hen

[lvalexandra]

Hi! I have a broody hen and can't figure out how to unbrood her. She's also the smallest of my girls and I'm getting worried about her not eating because she doesn't have much to spare. I've removed her from the nest several times and she runs right back. She eats pretty much nothing when I bring her out. I've tried the ice cubes in the nest and she treats them like eggs, scooting them under her. I pulled the box they lay in and she laid in its place so it doesn't seem as though she concerned with changes...

Any ideas?

P.S. She's an Australorp, and yes we did research on what breeds don't go broody and many sources including others who raise chickens told us that they don't go broody. I have another another Australorp and she could care less about sitting on eggs.

 

[sourland]

Lock her in a pen or cage so that she can no longer can access to the nest site.

 

[redranger209]

That’s the problem with broody breeds. Moat of them are bantams so they get picked on.

 

[varidgerunner]

Put her in a wire bottom cage so her belly can't stay warm. Or put a nest in the cage with some eggs and let her hatch. As long as they get off the nest once a day and eat a little it won't hurt them. They need to hatch chicks so they can recover while they are raising chicks. It's the natural thing for them to do. Breeds with a strong instinct to brood will just lay a dozen or so more eggs and go broody again, even if you stop this cycle. If you don't want broody chickens, don't get broody chickens. Bantams and silkies have somewhat of a strong desire to brood.

 

[lvalexandra]

Lock her in a pen or cage so that she can no longer can access to the nest site.

Thank you for replying, so we’ve locked her out, now she’s running herself into the ground trying to get in. She’s my smallest and since she’s been broody she’s lost even more weight so I’m really worried.. also just lost my biggest girl to heat stroke so I’m not wanting to lose another so soon.

 

[aart]

I give a dose of Sav-A-Chick electrolytes to the whole flock every 3-4 days during heat waves, ever since I almost lost a hen to heat stress/stroke.

Using a wire crate is most effective way to break a broody.
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 with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) 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. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.