Broody hen's feathers

[richard972]

Have a broody BO hen that I am breaking. My question is about the feathers she plucked, how long do they take to grow back?

 

[Braxton Brigade]

a while, it usually takes 4 to 6 weeks for feather re growth. You can put her on a higher protein diet like flock raiser with 18%-20% protein for a while to help her out. If she is over 2 y/o she will molt and regrow all her feathers around the same time frame.

 

[richard972]

She is just under 6 months, she just started laying a few weeks ago. She got two cold baths today with no luck. So will be picking up a cage tomorrow.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

I know the struggle, all three of my australorps went broody and plucked their chest feathers at 22 weeks old. I finally got everyone laying again and still have to do a good job of collecting eggs often enough to discourage brooding.

 

[richard972]

Did you pull fake eggs too? If you had them. I pulled mine today.

 

[aart]

Did you pull fake eggs too? If you had them. I pulled mine today.

Nah, if really broody, they'll set on nothing.

Feathers might grow back soon, or not until molt....depends on if she fully plucked them or just bit them off.

Cold water dunk seems drastic and could be a detrimental shock to body if water is too cold....tho in this heat, might feel good but still not break her.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[Braxton Brigade]

Personally I did remove fake eggs from the nest, but as the above poster said, a very broody bird will sit on a empty nest. In my experience collecting eggs often does help prevent the lesser broody breeds, it seems to be working with my Australorps, all you can do is give things a try with your birds.

 

[richard972]

Yeah I'm aware she will sit on a empty nest. This morning she went straight to the nest when I unblocked them. But before work three birds were fighting over one nest. These birds will be the death of me.