Broody hen?

[EllaGrace1]

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve needed help, thank yall so much for all the advice! However, we’re experiencing our first broody hen.

Poppy, no idea what breed she is (she was supposed to be a Rhode Island Red but is most definitely not), has been broody for a couple weeks now. We first started taking her off the nest, however we couldn’t completely block it off because of our 4 other hens. Then, we tried putting frozen water bottles under her. It wasn’t helping and just seemed to make her mad. Recently, we put her in a brood breaker. She has been doing amazing and seemed to be getting back to her normal self. Because we’re new chicken owners, we a) felt bad for her and b) didn’t know how to tell when the brood had broke, so we let her out to roam with the rest of the flock. Didn’t show signs of broodiness, but one of our higher up hens still was chasing her like before she went into the brood breaker (we read that this was to try and break the hen out of the brood so we’ve been letting her do whatever, nothing violent and not anything worse than regular pecking order). Since she was doing fine, we figured her brood had broke. Well, when we went to check that they were all in the coop for the night, she was back in the nesting box. But she wasn’t sitting in it like she was broody? It was almost like she just needed to lay a egg? But it’s night?? When I picked her up to put her on the roosting bar, she didn’t seem interested in going back in the box.

So do we need to put her back in the broody breaker? We don’t want to put her in there if she doesn’t need it.

Thank yall!!

(Poppy when we first saw she was broody and was trying to move her, don’t know if the pic will help lol)

 

[DobieLover]

She's a brown leghorn.

we read that this was to try and break the hen out of the brood so we’ve been letting her do whatever, nothing violent and not anything worse than regular pecking order

Someone told you wrong. When a broody hen gets pecked and chased by the other hens it's to help snap her out of her trance.

I would monitor her behavior tomorrow and see what she does. If you catch her in a nest box and she's in there for more than an hour, she more than likely is still broody and she needs another day and night and the broody breaker. Can you post pictures of your broody breaker?

 

[EllaGrace1]

Thank you! It’s amazing to actually hear what breed she is! I can get a picture of the broody breaker in the morning, but it’s a wire 2’x3’ dog crate resting on 4-5” bricks with a fan blowing cool air around and underneath. She had food and water in there with her.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Don't forget to supply grit to your broody in the broody breaker. She doesn't need much but she does need some.

 

[EllaGrace1]

Thank yall so much! She has, thankfully, stopped being broody!

 

[FrizzledWyandotte7]

Hi everyone! It’s been a while since I’ve needed help, thank yall so much for all the advice! However, we’re experiencing our first broody hen.

Poppy, no idea what breed she is (she was supposed to be a Rhode Island Red but is most definitely not), has been broody for a couple weeks now. We first started taking her off the nest, however we couldn’t completely block it off because of our 4 other hens. Then, we tried putting frozen water bottles under her. It wasn’t helping and just seemed to make her mad. Recently, we put her in a brood breaker. She has been doing amazing and seemed to be getting back to her normal self. Because we’re new chicken owners, we a) felt bad for her and b) didn’t know how to tell when the brood had broke, so we let her out to roam with the rest of the flock. Didn’t show signs of broodiness, but one of our higher up hens still was chasing her like before she went into the brood breaker (we read that this was to try and break the hen out of the brood so we’ve been letting her do whatever, nothing violent and not anything worse than regular pecking order). Since she was doing fine, we figured her brood had broke. Well, when we went to check that they were all in the coop for the night, she was back in the nesting box. But she wasn’t sitting in it like she was broody? It was almost like she just needed to lay a egg? But it’s night?? When I picked her up to put her on the roosting bar, she didn’t seem interested in going back in the box.

So do we need to put her back in the broody breaker? We don’t want to put her in there if she doesn’t need it.

Thank yall!!

(Poppy when we first saw she was broody and was trying to move her, don’t know if the pic will help lol)

The frozen water bottles often don’t work. Usually the broody breaker does work, and usually another thing you can do is just annoy her and lift her off of the nest two the run. That is usually what works for me.

 

[1stflockMama]

I finally gave in to my broody, after loosing my one girl to heat stroke I was afraid to lose our Cookie. Our friend just hatched chicks and we snuck 2 under her. They are in the "nursery" now and Cookie is the best mama ever!

 

[1stflockMama]

The nursery is the original coop and run I ordered the girls. It said it was for 4-6 hens... it definitely is not! But its perfect for a maternity ward