Broody hens

[junkman56]

Hello, I have a question , I have two hens that went broody, I don't want to hatch any eggs. My question is, can I put both hens in a medium cage at the same time? Until they get their mind back from wanting to sit on eggs.they sit in empty nesting boxes , i take them out but they go right back in. It seems that these two go broody on me constantly, but not at the same time. I'll put them in a cage for a couple days, they will be OK after that, a couple weeks go by ,and boom right back wanting to hatch a empty nest
Thank uou

 

[AngelaY]

I'm sorry but the only way I know to get them to stop being broody is to give them babies... I always cave... I had a bird that was VERY persistent, I locked them out of the coop for a day (this was when I only had two chickens) and came to see how they were doing and she was sitting ON TOP OF THE COOP IN THE GENERAL AREA WHERE THE BROOD BOX WAS! So that was the first and last time I denied a broody chicken a clutch of fertilized eggs.

 

[junkman56]

I'm sorry but the only way I know to get them to stop being broody is to give them babies... I always cave... I had a bird that was VERY persistent, I locked them out of the coop for a day (this was when I only had two chickens) and came to see how they were doing and she was sitting ON TOP OF THE COOP IN THE GENERAL AREA WHERE THE BROOD BOX WAS! So that was the first and last time I denied a broody chicken a clutch of fertilized eggs.

I have 15 - week old chicks in my garage right now, in a brooder box, that I just ordered, that takes me to my limit as far as the coop goes

 

[AngelaY]

I have 15 - week old chicks in my garage right now, in a brooder box, that I just ordered, that takes me to my limit as far as the coop goes

Oh! Well if they're 15 weeks old then you could start incorporating them in with the big girls, having new birds around might snap her out if it!

 

[AngelaY]

I have 15 - week old chicks in my garage right now, in a brooder box, that I just ordered, that takes me to my limit as far as the coop goes

Oh! Well if they're 15 weeks old then you could start incorporating them in with the big girls, having new birds around might snap her out if it!

I just realized that you probably meant 15 chicks that are a week old... in that case they're still small enough that the broody mama would probably adopt a few of them.

 

[junkman56]

I just realized that you probably meant 15 chicks that are a week old... in that case they're still small enough that the broody mama would probably adopt a few of them.

Yes they are 1 week old
I plan on moving them to the coop at 4 or 5 weeks old, once their feathered. I put them in their own section of the coop, so they can be seen but not touched for a few weeks,

 

[AngelaY]

Yes they are 1 week old
I plan on moving them to the coop at 4 or 5 weeks old, once their feathered. I put them in their own section of the coop, so they can be seen but not touched for a few weeks,

Are you willing to try to let your broody hen adopt one or two? I get it if you don't want to, it's always scary the first time. I have done this a few times and it usually goes really well, there was only one time it didn't. Either way, this is how you do it: take the mama out and away from the brood box, put the babies in the box and let mama go back to the box with the babies in it, she will see the babies, "talk" to them for a second, and then either accept them or she won't. If she does, then she will either let them go under her on their own time, or try to push them under her the way she would push an egg under her. If she tries to push them under, just put them under for her and keep an eye on them for a little while. If she doesn't accept them, she'll peck them and purr at them. If she accepts them, great! If she doesn't, bring the babies back inside.

 

[junkman56]

Don't think I want to try that

 

[AngelaY]

Don't think I want to try that

Ok, it was just a suggestion. Sorry if it felt like I was trying to pressure you into it... I read back over my posts and realized that if a were in your position I'd feel like I was trying to pressure you, that was not my intention. I can be a little bit overbearing sometimes if you couldn't tell lol. I've heard of people removing their brood boxes to discourage broody chickens, it didn't work with my Alice but she was very persistent. You could try it if you haven't already. I also heard that you can throw the hen in a bucket of ice cold water but I never wanted to do that, Alice was a Bantam and I felt like she'd freeze if I did lol.

 

[CluckerFamily]

I've let one of my broody hens hatch some in the past and it cleared up any future broody events. I currently have a broody hen that is loudly telling me to let the eggs be. But I take them and make sure she gets out to eat and drink. She will stop eventually.