broody?? hen

[Pied Piper]

Will you be putting eggs under her? It's smart to separate a brooding hen, because the others might break some of the eggs when they go to check on her out of curiosity. The other hens will go and lay next to her, if she's in their favourite spot, so separating her makes bith her and the other girls more comfortable.

If you are not going to hatch eggs, you can break her brooding in several ways. My prefered one is to splash her with some cold water, a bit on the head and back, a couple of times. That usually does it. More stubborn hens might require it done several times. Just nake sure you are doing during hot weather, you don't want to chill her.

My favourite hen gets broody every year and she becomes all ruffled up, stray feathers, broken shafts, etc. Her molting cycle coincides with the hatching of the chicks. By the time the chicks are 6 weeks she has finished molting. It might be the same case with your hen.

Will you be putting eggs under her? It's smart to separate a brooding hen, because the others might break some of the eggs when they go to check on her out of curiosity. The other hens will go and lay next to her, if she's in their favourite spot, so separating her makes bith her and the other girls more comfortable.

If you are not going to hatch eggs, you can break her brooding in several ways. My prefered one is to splash her with some cold water, a bit on the head and back, a couple of times. That usually does it. More stubborn hens might require it done several times. Just nake sure you are doing during hot weather, you don't want to chill her.

My favourite hen gets broody every year and she becomes all ruffled up, stray feathers, broken shafts, etc. Her molting cycle coincides with the hatching of the chicks. By the time the chicks are 6 weeks she has finished molting. It might be the same case with your hen.

Thank you for your response. I don’t plan to get fertilized eggs for her to hatch. I’ve never had a hen hatch out chicks and would have to research ways to provide them with proper feed etc. Either way, I don’t have another safe place to isolate her.
If you spray her with water to break the cycle, do you use a squirt bottle? Do it while she’s on the nest?

 

[Pied Piper]

Seeing one might be enough to treat, they are hard to see.
My Bug Check notes:

Have you checked them over real well for mites and/or lice?

Google images of lice/mites and their eggs before the inspection so you'll know what you're looking for.

Part the feathers right down to the skin around vent, head/neck and under wings.

Best done well after dark with a strong flashlight/headlight, easier to 'catch' bird and also to check for the mites that live in structure and only come out at night to feed off roosting birds.

Look fast, they will scatter quickly once the feathers are parted and the light hits them.

Wipe a white paper towel along the underside of roost to look for red smears(smashed well fed mites).

Good post about mite ID by Lady McCamley:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/my-chicken-has-mites-now-what.1273674/page-2#post-20483008



You could just link the article
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

Thank you, I’ll take a look at night. We have had birds with the eggs around the vent in the past so I know what that looks like, but I will definitely check again with a light and check their perches. The hens do tend to dust bathe almost daily and I’ll put some DE in the pits they have dug.
I have also dusted the hen in question already.

 

[aart]

Thank you, I’ll take a look at night. We have had birds with the eggs around the vent in the past so I know what that looks like, but I will definitely check again with a light and check their perches. The hens do tend to dust bathe almost daily and I’ll put some DE in the pits they have dug.
I have also dusted the hen in question already.

DE will not kill an infestation of lice or mites.

 

[orelsi]

If you spray her with water to break the cycle, do you use a squirt bottle? Do it while she’s on the nest?

I pick them up and put them under the sink in the yard for a second. Don't soak her, just let the water hit her and move her away. Do it twice a day until she stops brooding. Some people soak them in a tub for half a minute, but I believe that's too much.

Check this out, a lot of good stuff in there:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/how-to-break-a-broody-hen.65588/

Choose something in your comfort zone / skills and try it. Good luck!