Broody Hen

[Dbl T in CO]

I have a hen that has become broody. She prefers to sit on everybody’s eggs all day. I check on her daily and she seems to be okay, but I'm not sure if I should just leave her be or take some sort of action.

Can anyone give me some advice?


Thank you!

 

[hypnofrogstevie]

Its up to you. Are those eggs fertilized or do you have a rooster? If you want to take them switch in fake eggs or golfballs and take the real eggs

 

[airmom1c05]

http://www.themodernhomestead.us/article/Broody-Hens-1.html

This is a great site about broody hens. Enjoy!

 

[Dbl T in CO]

No rooster, just the 5 hens. I've just been taking the eggs. She doesn't seem to mind.

 

[Theda's Mom]

I've got the same situation. My sweet LB has taken up residence in a nest box. She'll come out to gobble up a handful of scratch, but then it's back to the box! She doesn't mind if I reach underneath for eggs.

Given that there's not a rooster around, will she sit there until h**l freezes over, or will it eventually register that nuthin's gonna happen and that she's missing all the fun? (The rest of the girls are out in the yard, the pasture, the barn ..)

Susan

 

[airmom1c05]

To break up a broody hen on an empty nest or infertile eggs, you should move her to an isolation pen/cage/box with no nesting material in it for a few days. Then when you let her out, she should not be broody anymore! Hope this works. I haven't had to try it myself......yet! I am WANTING a hen to go broody!

 

[Dawn419]

Check out a post I started awhile back, on Breaking a Broody.

If you don't have a rooster, the eggs won't hatch because they won't be fertilized.

Hope this helps!

Dawn

 

[valmom]

I keep waiting for one of ours to go broody, too. I bought some of those plastic easter eggs but didn't weight them- the girls just pushed them out of the way and laid their eggs in the dog crate I put out for them to brood in. It was funny to see the bright plastic eggs all over the place.

So, how DO you convince someone to go broody?

 

[airmom1c05]

You don't convince a hen to go broody. You only encourage. It's between the hen and God.

 

[SpottedCrow]

I had Miss MoneyPenny sitting on infertile eggs from December 23 until almost the end of February...I couldn't break the stubborn wench!

Other times, I could, but not that time.

Putting an icepack under the bird or in a cage where the air can flow under her can help.

Keep taking the eggs too and kick her out if she's just laid.