Broody hens with no wire cage

[Australorpfamily]

We have two, possibly three broody hens, as of yesterday (Sat for the first Nugget- Noisey Girl- buff Orpington) last night I removed her and Goldie(SOE) to coop from nests, first night they tried staying.

Yes, it is November in Indiana, the weather has been fluctuating lol as always.

I don't have a spare dog crate, not to mention three! (The dog is in the crate, we've used it if we had but not for three days)

Noisy Girl got so mad at me when I removed her from nest lol

I mess with (talk, pet, dig for eggs) under all my girls as they began sitting on the nest, that way they got used to me bothering them in case I got a broody and needed to grab eggs. We do not have a rooster, although I could get fertilized eggs from a friend, we don't want to hatch them out right now though.

Eta: they are 27-28 weeks old

Other suggestions? Thanks!

 

[pipdzipdnreadytogo]

When I have more broodies than I have cages to put them in, I just set up a loop of fence with a food and water dish in a busy corner of the coop or out in the run so that the broodies are out of the nest and have a lot of flock activity around them to discourage them from nesting. Either just chicken wire stapled to the studs or heavier fence wire that stands well enough on its own in a loop. Sometimes putting multiple broodies in the same loop of fence (provided it's got enough room for multiples in it) helps with breaking them faster, too, as they spend so much time bickering with each other that they decide not to nest after all. Obviously, if your run is not secure against nighttime predators, you'll have to move them into the coop for the night and back out to broody jail in the morning.

Also, howdy neighbor! Northern IN here A couple of my girls have been threatening to brood on and off as well for a few weeks, thankfully without fully committing (yet?). In November, of all the times to brood

 

[Australorpfamily]

When I have more broodies than I have cages to put them in, I just set up a loop of fence with a food and water dish in a busy corner of the coop or out in the run so that the broodies are out of the nest and have a lot of flock activity around them to discourage them from nesting. Either just chicken wire stapled to the studs or heavier fence wire that stands well enough on its own in a loop. Sometimes putting multiple broodies in the same loop of fence (provided it's got enough room for multiples in it) helps with breaking them faster, too, as they spend so much time bickering with each other that they decide not to nest after all. Obviously, if your run is not secure against nighttime predators, you'll have to move them into the coop for the night and back out to broody jail in the morning.

Also, howdy neighbor! Northern IN here A couple of my girls have been threatening to brood on and off as well for a few weeks, thankfully without fully committing (yet?). In November, of all the times to brood

Thanks for the brain reminder, I did the same for having chicks outside, a large brooder pen(with holes for the chicks) * off to do that now lol

 

[Bigtom Turkey]

I have a yard full of broody games in Indiana. I have only lost one day old. So its not the end of the world. But its up to you.

 

[Australorpfamily]

She's so mad lol

 

[Australorpfamily]

She's so mad lol

Put a top on the broody jail and they got out somehow... Will mess with them tomorrow as I had to leave for work haha

 

[NatJ]

Just moving a broody to a new spot can sometimes break her broodiness. (That can happen when a person wants a broody to hatch eggs, but moves her to a separate pen-- sometimes she will keep sitting, and sometimes she will not.)

 

[Australorpfamily]

Just moving a broody to a new spot can sometimes break her broodiness. (That can happen when a person wants a broody to hatch eggs, but moves her to a separate pen-- sometimes she will keep sitting, and sometimes she will not.)

I wish it worked that easily for this one lol I've moved her out of her nest multiple times. She even knocked the top of the broody jail off to get back(found it on camera lol), she was pissed I moved her lol

 

[K0k0shka]

If you have a neighborhood group for used items, see if anybody is getting rid of a dog crate or three. I'm in a couple such groups on facebook and they are incredibly useful and helpful, both for getting rid of things that I don't want going to a landfill, and for finding free or discounted items that I don't want to necessarily buy new.

The loop of fencing inside the run is a good idea, too. I've done that myself. I have a partition of my run that stays open for the chickens to use when I don't need it for anything, and when I need to separate a chicken I've used it to break broodies, to separate an injured/sick chicken, etc. There's just a wall of chicken wire between the separated chicken and the flock, so they still see each other and don't need re-introduction. When I have a broody in there, first I hose down the ground so she won't make a nest in the bedding and keep brooding. She won't nest on wet ground so that's been working great. I have wood chips and dry leaves as bedding, so it doesn't get muddy, just not a cozy place to nest. I leave her in there with food and water.