Broody hen

[raerae65]

Hello Fellow chicken lovers, I have a problem that I am not familiar with. I have been raising only hens for about 3 years. (NO ROOSTERS) I have a 17 month old RIR that has been broody. The only time she moves is when I go get the eggs. I lift her up, grab what is there and leave. When I go back later to check for more eggs she has moved to the nests that have eggs in them, and I repeat this 4 times a day. She will not come out to eat or drink. She has been doing this for a month now. I have kicked her out twice so she could eat and drink. When she is done she goes right back in and the cycle begins again. We have 41 hens. This is the first time this has happened. I have read other stories on BYC and it was said this is normal. What I did not read was if it was normal for hens that hatch chicks, or for hens that are just for eggs. We raise the hens for eggs (no babies). I am quite worried about her. Can I change her behavior, or do I just let her be broody and just make sure she has food and water? Any help and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. They free range every day from 7am to when they go back in their coop at night around 9:15 and they get locked up. Thank you!

 

[LRH97]

It is normal, although I've never had a broody RIR. They're not particularly renown for broodiness, which is probably why Broodiness varies by primarily by breed, but it's also an individual thing. There's an exception to every rule you know!

Really, it all boils down to if you want babies or not, so you have several options. No roos means you can't hatch your eggs so that one is out. You could obtain fertilized eggs from somewhere locally or online if you wanted. You could also buy her some babies to raise. If you don't want chicks, you could always break her up (i.e. snap her out of her broodiness). At this point however, I would recommend breaking her. If she's been broody for a month, it's already been longer than what nature requires for an egg to hatch. Being broody is pretty strenuous on a hen's health and the longer a hen is allowed to set, the harder it will probably be to break her. Keep that in mind for your future broody girls.

To break her, the goal is to make her as least cozy as possible. I have a chicken tractor that's all grass for the bottom and covered at one end. Several nights in this is usually enough to do the trick. A dog crate or cage with no nesting material also works well. Keep in mind, some are easier to break than others. The change of scenery in the move may be enough for some. More insistent hens may have to stay in broody jail for a week or more. Since your girl has been broody for a while, she may take longer to break as I mentioned above.

 

[aart]

At this point however, I would recommend breaking her.

Great post above!

I agree, break her now.
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.

 

[raerae65]

It is normal, although I've never had a broody RIR. They're not particularly renown for broodiness, which is probably why Broodiness varies by primarily by breed, but it's also an individual thing. There's an exception to every rule you know!

Really, it all boils down to if you want babies or not, so you have several options. No roos means you can't hatch your eggs so that one is out. You could obtain fertilized eggs from somewhere locally or online if you wanted. You could also buy her some babies to raise. If you don't want chicks, you could always break her up (i.e. snap her out of her broodiness). At this point however, I would recommend breaking her. If she's been broody for a month, it's already been longer than what nature requires for an egg to hatch. Being broody is pretty strenuous on a hen's health and the longer a hen is allowed to set, the harder it will probably be to break her. Keep that in mind for your future broody girls.

To break her, the goal is to make her as least cozy as possible. I have a chicken tractor that's all grass for the bottom and covered at one end. Several nights in this is usually enough to do the trick. A dog crate or cage with no nesting material also works well. Keep in mind, some are easier to break than others. The change of scenery in the move may be enough for some. More insistent hens may have to stay in broody jail for a week or more. Since your girl has been broody for a while, she may take longer to break as I mentioned above.

 

[raerae65]

Thank you for both of your help. I did put her in a cage by herself, but I made it comfortable for her. So I will go out and undo that situation. I have never had this happen and I am really worried about her. She just will not get up and go eat and drink and be a chicken. So I will do what you both suggest and see how it goes. Thank you so much for your advice!!

 

[carolwfuller]

Hi! Broody hen for the first time. I set up a cage within the chicken pen. She has food and water and I covered part of it in the heavy rains today. The other hens are a little agitated with her in there. Should I take this makeshift pen out of the main pen and away? I put her back in the coop for night time. Closing the coop for safety of all 5. Took her out of the nest today and back in the little pen. Any ideas?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I covered part of it in the heavy rains today. The other hens are a little agitated with her in there. Should I take this makeshift pen out of the main pen and away? I put her back in the coop for night time. Closing the coop for safety of all 5. Took her out of the nest today and back in the little pen. Any ideas?

As long as she can stay dry enough in the cage I would leave her there at least during the day, if you feel keeping her overnight in there is unsafe. The other chickens will get over it.