broody? need help.

[Stacyoung13]

I'm jumping in here because I also need some advice, please!!! I have 2 bantam cochins who have gone broody, which I don't want. One began probably 5-7 days ago; the other went pre-broody about that long ago, and today started sitting in the nest. Up til now I'd always been lucky to have had only one broody at a time. I always put a broody in a dog cage at my house, as I'd read that it's best to have them away from the coop and nest to break them quicker; and since I usually catch them early enough, the longest I've ever had to separate them was for 5-6 days, but usually just 3-4. Here's the problem: I let these hens go this long because I have another hen, who is injured, using the cage (at my house)! And even if I didn't have an injured hen, I only have one cage. I do have a carrier, but I read the best housing for a broody is one that allows lots of light and has a wire (ventilating) floor... Is that really the case? And does it really matter if whatever cage a broody is in, is or is not in the coop? I know that lengthy separation can cause re-integration problems, but again, this is hopefully just a few days... Also, is it ok or a bad idea to put two broodies together if necessary?

Since I do have 2 broody now, I need to make an adjustment of some kind...

The cage is a ~ 1 ft 4" wide x 1 ft 11 1/2" long x ~ 1 ft 7 1/2" tall - really best for 1 hen with food and water to use comfortably. I suppose my two bantam cochins could fit in it for a few days, especially since they're so keen on just sitting around all day (for the most part)..., and I could release them to go forage with the others once/day & then put them back in the cage for the night? On the other hand, those broody poops would get messy for 2 hens to have to deal with.

Do I need to buy a 2nd (or 3rd) dog cage?Thank you for any help!

The wire mesh floor is to cool them off, help break the broodiness. I have 2 broody silkies sharing the same nest and a momma who shares the nest with them at night with her 2 babies. It’s everyone’s favorite nest. I just let my chickens go through the broody stage. I just collect the eggs that everyone donates, I have about 20 babies at different ages, don’t need more. Lol
Unless you need/want the eggs that they usually lay, I would let them brood. If you want to break the broodiness, than yes you will need another cage with wire bottom or a bigger one. A pet carrier doesn’t have a wire bottom. If the one you have does and it doesn’t fit in the coop you can always set it in the run. Good Luck

 

[Ridgerunner]

Also, is it ok or a bad idea to put two broodies together if necessary?

I've had as many as three broody hens in my broody buster at the same time. Don't let that worry you.

 

[khind]

...I just let my chickens go through the broody stage. I just collect the eggs that everyone donates, I have about 20 babies at different ages, don’t need more. Lol
Unless you need/want the eggs that they usually lay, I would let them brood. If you want to break the broodiness, than yes you will need another cage with wire bottom or a bigger one. A pet carrier doesn’t have a wire bottom. If the one you have does and it doesn’t fit in the coop you can always set it in the run. Good Luck

I don't mind the lack of eggs. But is there an amount of time or other indication I should watch for that would mean it's a good idea to intervene and isolate to keep the stage from being too taxing on their bodies?

 

[Stacyoung13]

I don't mind the lack of eggs. But is there an amount of time or other indication I should watch for that would mean it's a good idea to intervene and isolate to keep the stage from being too taxing on their bodies?

I let them go about 3-3.5 weeks then I start taking them off the nest and putting them outside. I only had to do this with two of them one took 4-5 tries the other one only twice. Usually after 3 weeks they’re pretty much done

 

[aart]

Unless you need/want the eggs that they usually lay,

..or don't have space and/or desire for more chicks/chickens.

I only have one cage.

Sounds like you need more crates!

But is there an amount of time or other indication I should watch for that would mean it's a good idea to intervene and isolate to keep the stage from being too taxing on their bodies?

As soon as you decide you don't want them to hatch out chicks.

 

[khind]

Wow, that's longer than

..or don't have space and/or desire for more chicks/chickens.


Sounds like you need more crates!

As soon as you decide you don't want them to hatch out chicks.

Yes, I sure do need more crates now. But caging them right away in the past instead of waiting helped prevent me from having two fully broody at the same time. Oh, well...!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Before a hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat. Most of that excess is in a fat pad in the pelvic region but there some scattered throughout their body. If you butcher various-aged males and females it is really apparent. That excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of so she can spend most of her time on the eggs instead of searching for food and water. Even hens that don't go broody store up excess fat. Some hens store up more fat than others. You might read about a broody hen loosing "condition". For the first several weeks that condition is fat meant for that purpose. But after a certain amount of time (different for different hens) if they don't break from being broody it can mean they can lose some health. Most will break from being broody at that point but some don't. The longer a hen is broody and using that excess fat the longer it takes her to replace it so she can get back to laying.

The hormones that cause a hen to go broody can vary in strength with different hens. Some sort of go broody but never flip over to full broody mode. They can continue laying eggs until they fully flip. Some take a while but do eventually flip. Some flip in an instant, from no signs at all to full hard broody. Some are easier to break than others. For those that have sort of flipped or just thinking about it just tossing them off the nest some might work. For one that is fully committed that is highly unlikely to work.

Personally, if I don't want a hen to hatch eggs I try to break her earlier rather than later. Part of that is to get her back to laying earlier. Part of that is that it can be easier if you try earlier. I'm not that worried about her having health problems from losing condition for several weeks but that could eventually come into play.

 

[khind]

Before a hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat. Most of that excess is in a fat pad in the pelvic region but there some scattered throughout their body. If you butcher various-aged males and females it is really apparent. That excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of so she can spend most of her time on the eggs instead of searching for food and water. Even hens that don't go broody store up excess fat. Some hens store up more fat than others. You might read about a broody hen loosing "condition". For the first several weeks that condition is fat meant for that purpose. But after a certain amount of time (different for different hens) if they don't break from being broody it can mean they can lose some health. Most will break from being broody at that point but some don't. The longer a hen is broody and using that excess fat the longer it takes her to replace it so she can get back to laying.

The hormones that cause a hen to go broody can vary in strength with different hens. Some sort of go broody but never flip over to full broody mode. They can continue laying eggs until they fully flip. Some take a while but do eventually flip. Some flip in an instant, from no signs at all to full hard broody. Some are easier to break than others. For those that have sort of flipped or just thinking about it just tossing them off the nest some might work. For one that is fully committed that is highly unlikely to work.

Personally, if I don't want a hen to hatch eggs I try to break her earlier rather than later. Part of that is to get her back to laying earlier. Part of that is that it can be easier if you try earlier. I'm not that worried about her having health problems from losing condition for several weeks but that could eventually come into play.

Thank you for that explanation!

 

[khind]

Before a hen starts to lay she builds up excess fat. Most of that excess is in a fat pad in the pelvic region but there some scattered throughout their body. If you butcher various-aged males and females it is really apparent. That excess fat is what a broody hen mostly lives off of so she can spend most of her time on the eggs instead of searching for food and water. Even hens that don't go broody store up excess fat. Some hens store up more fat than others. You might read about a broody hen loosing "condition". For the first several weeks that condition is fat meant for that purpose. But after a certain amount of time (different for different hens) if they don't break from being broody it can mean they can lose some health. Most will break from being broody at that point but some don't. The longer a hen is broody and using that excess fat the longer it takes her to replace it so she can get back to laying.

And, unfortunately, I think I just saw the excess fat you're referring to yesterday, when one of my young laying hens (who'd never gone broody) was killed by a hawk and left on the ground torn open. After wiping away some tears, I took a look inside at her organs, and i was surprised to find fat as well since she was fairly lean. (Of course, I also realize as I'm typing this that she would obviously have had to had some fat in her body... My surprise may have more to do with the fact that the only chickens I've ever cut into in my life were already refrigerated or even frozen, from another source.)