Broody-henitis

[2102Simm]

Let me set the stage... I have a hen and for lack of a better word she's a b***h. I thought Buff Orpingtons were supposed to be nice but I digress... Well I got behind collecting eggs a few weeks ago and low and behold this hell hen has taken up residence in a nesting box packed with about 15 eggs. Fast forward 2 weeks my hens hid a laying spot in the old brooder box in my coop...and another Buff hen has taken up residence on another 15 or so eggs (please don't judge my life has been crazy and I forget to collect eggs) 2 days later one of my oldest Australorp hens (also a crotchety old biddie) decides to steal eggs from the 2nd Buff and go broody herself. Now fast forward another week I have 2 more hens clucking and ticking like puffed up beach ball time bombs. The broody-henitis is spreading and I'm not sure how to stop it!

 

[592667]

Wow! Looks like more than one hen wants to be a mama this year

The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to not allow them access to any nesting boxes or their broody area. I had a broody hen, and nothing worked accept keeping her from the nesting boxes and other areas with nesting materials.
This might take a while, until they forget about being broody, so expect to keep them from the nesting boxes for a few days.
Just make sure they have access to their roosting area at night for sleeping though!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

There a 2 methods that work: #1 put them in a cage above the ground with no bottom so air can get under them for a few days so they stop being broody, #2 is to put frozen golf balls under them in the nest. Then take all the eggs away that you don't want to hatch. Mark the ones that you do. Try to collect the eggs daily or every other day. Hope all goes well!

 

[turkey girl 0964]

You could aslo give her a cool water bath to cool her chest and vent therefor lowering her broody body temp.

 

[Secondof9]

Let me set the stage... I have a hen and for lack of a better word she's a b***h. I thought Buff Orpingtons were supposed to be nice but I digress... Well I got behind collecting eggs a few weeks ago and low and behold this hell hen has taken up residence in a nesting box packed with about 15 eggs. Fast forward 2 weeks my hens hid a laying spot in the old brooder box in my coop...and another Buff hen has taken up residence on another 15 or so eggs (please don't judge my life has been crazy and I forget to collect eggs) 2 days later one of my oldest Australorp hens (also a crotchety old biddie) decides to steal eggs from the 2nd Buff and go broody herself. Now fast forward another week I have 2 more hens clucking and ticking like puffed up beach ball time bombs. The broody-henitis is spreading and I'm not sure how to stop it! View attachment 2617713View attachment 2617714View attachment 2617715

You have a gift for writing. Sorry, maybe you didn't mean to be humorous but your post made me laugh out loud! Your description of broody hens is SO accurate. I've tried and failed to break broody hens for 3 years running. So persistent they ALWAYS win!! I've tried the cold water bath, routinely removing from the nest, locking them out, the cold water bath and even an ice pack under the chicken. I gave up and either wait them out or stuff fertile eggs or day old babies under them. Right now I have just one out of 3 hens sitting. I hope you have better luck.

 

[BlueBaby]

Yes, that happened to me a couple of year's ago when I had 5 different hen's go broody, and one of those 5 went broody 2 time's! I currently have one three year old hen that just went broody.

 

[2102Simm]

Thank you all for the advice about broody hens. I wrote my post to just to vent a little about the craziness of my birds this year with everyone wanting to be a mama.

 

[linguini]

Thank you all for the advice about broody hens. I wrote my post to just to vent a little about the craziness of my birds this year with everyone wanting to be a mama.

Sorry about your trouble, but your chicken-mamas are so cute and adorable!!

I have a blue wyandotte, 9 months old, started getting broody about two weeks ago. And two other hens also started to sleep in the nesting boxes although they didn't brood during the day. We have no roosters - so I learned from the forum that I should break the broodiness as soon as possible.

I was lucky to be able to stop her broodiness by persistently chasing her off the nesting box day and night for about 3 days. I also closed all the nesting boxes one hour before dark every day. On the fourth day, it was an unusually cold day, I moved her out of a warm and cozy nesting box and put her on the ground. She shook a little and started walking around. I could see immediately she was cooled down! It's also interesting that I had no more nesting box battles with any of them since. (it was really quite a hassle to have to close up the nesting box an hour before and then reopen it after they all roosted).

But, she hasn't laid any egg since, it's been two weeks. Her body is still on strike.