Broody hen

[stickman]

My best layer just went broody. I have no rooster therefore I have no need in her being broody. Is there any way to convince her to change her mind?

 

[mothersin2ition]

lock her out of her nest for a day or two- Ive heard some people put ice cubes under them to change their temperature (its supposed to signal them that they arent warm enough to hatch a clutch). Ive never had much luck with breaking my broodies, I always end up letting them set. Then again, we have roosters. If we didnt, Id try a little harder to break them.

 

[abooth]

You can fill a bucket with some ice cold water and hold her in it for awhile. Make it deep enough that she can stand on the bottom but make sure the water covers her rear end. I have never done this but it has had good results for other people.

 

[mychookschick]

I have heard of people putting their brrooies in a wire bottom cage with absolutely NO bedding and it breaks them.... just a thought.

 

[bantyshanty]

I've had 3 silkies go broody without fertilized eggs. I used the same method for breaking their broodiness each time.

Sitting in a cool bath for several minutes, cool bath, a wire-bottom cage elevated on bricks with a fan blowing on her for a day,
a cool bath the same evening, with a fan again, a wire-bottom cage for 2 more days, and no access to the nest boxes. --here are my results:


Blue Silkie: Went broody and I noticed it immediately, pulled away the egg, used my breaking method, and two days later, she resumed laying regularly.
She still makes the broody clucking sound, but is non-broody otherwise. She's 6 months old.


Buff Silkie: Went broody after laying an egg in the coop late evening. She sat for 12 hours before I found the egg & broke her.
I used this method, and she stopped making the broody cluck on Day 3, but after a month, has not resumed laying. She's 8 months old.

Black silkie: Went broody after rasing a clutch of 2, and had resumed laying for a week.
I had rehomed one of her chicks and she went broody the next day. I took away the egg within an hour, used the same method,
and she also stopped making the broody cluck Day 3 & seems like she's trying to lay on Day 4.

My conclusion is... the sooner you break her, the more likely you are to get your layer back. This is based on 3 hens, of course.

I have 9 silkies, 3 cochins, so I'm sure I'll be much better at broody-breaking soon, lol.

Good luck!

 

[PunkinPeep]

I've used the wire bottom cage method once with great success. It took 24 hours, and she didn't try to go back to the nest.

I've used the frequent-dips-in-cold-water method 2 or 3 times with limited success.

With this heat, the wire bottom cage may or may not work since it doesn't really cool her down much.

I can't speak to how long it took them to go back to laying. I have too many chickens to keep track of that part of it - or at least i haven't learned how yet.

I count success if they stop trying to brood. Most of the time i don't try to break broodies. I have roosters, and i like chicks, so i just give them eggs and let them go.

Just a thought, if you have someone near your who has fertilized eggs, you might get some cheap or free eggs from them and let her set. It's lots of fun!