Broody hens

[morganw78]

I know this has been a topic before, but I'm looking for some fresh ideas/advice. I have a one year old Silkie hen that has been broody for about 11 days now. I do not want chicks at this time so I'm trying to break her of it. I have been removing her eggs and then pulling her from her nest and putting her in the yard, but she just runs back to her nest after about 10 or 15 minutes. I have also tried dunking her belly in cold water a few times a day. No luck yet. I'm at work all day so I only have a few hours a day to work with her and I'm out of ideas. Should I just keep doing this and hope it stops soon?

 

[Just_Clucky84]

I have a Buff Orpington hen that went broody twice last spring/summer and just went broody again this week. I tried everything you did to break her of it but she's a stubborn girl. Eventually I gave up trying to stop her and it took her a few weeks to give up also. The second time she went broody I decided to bite the bullet and get some baby chicks for her. I sold the babies once she was done mothering them because I didn't have enough room for more birds. Watching a mother hen with baby chicks is one of the most adorable things I have every seen!

Recently someone told me to take her out of the hen house and put her in a separate cage for a few days. Supposedly they did this and the hen stopped being broody because she wasn't allowed back on her nest or in her "home". I'm going to stick her in my garage and see what happens. I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

[vnploveschickens]

You could just put unfertile or wooden eggs under them for the duration.

Personally, I think its mean to try to break them.
It usually doesn't work anyway, at least not for very long.

 

[Happy Chooks]

Breaking a silkie? I don't know that's possible - they have got to be the most broody breed around. Good luck though.

You can try putting her in a wire cage up on blocks so there is air flow underneath. Food, water, but no nesting material.