Broody or not broody

[megnterry]

Back with another question. I have a chantecler hen that is around 28-29 weeks old. She had started laying, then I found her in the nest box, not eating just sitting in there, raising her neck feathers up when I would peek in the nest box. I tried the dipping in cold (ice) water, no luck. So I put her in a crate high in the coop where she couldn't nest and after about 5 days, she laid an egg. So I let her out of the crate. Now she is sitting on the nest again, not laying and not eating much, but squawking at me when I look in on her. When I check her over everything feels fine. I really don't want to lose her, but I'm not sure what to do.

Meg

 

[KellyHM]

Sounds broody to me! Stuff some eggs under there and hatch yourself some chickies!

 

[debilorrah]

Do you WANT her broody? I have a solution if the answer is no.

 

[cmom]

If she is not laying eggs, I would put her out of the nest. Otherwise put some furtile eggs under her and see what happens.

 

[megnterry]

I don't want her broody as I have no roo.

Meg

 

[Beekissed]

I found an interesting solution to a persistent broody the other day. I had been using the water bucket trick but it didn't work this time. Then a kind soul gave me two 5 mo. old roosters that I had separated in their own pen. A light came on!

I put the broody in with the young and vigorous roosters....they had a field day, she wound up on the roost most of the day for refuge!

She hasn't been broody since! If she goes again, I'll put her in the same pen alone with my big, young, randy roo and see if he can't take that out of her!

 

[dancingbear]

The bucket thing didn't work for me, either. Tried for 2 weeks. I didn't want to keep doing that to my hen for so long that she'd never let me pick her up again. So I isolated her in a covered outdoor pen, with plenty of room to move around, food, water, a lovely roosting pole, and bare dirt. Nothing to even think of as a cozy nest.

The first night she hunkered in front of the closed chicken door at the top of the ramp into the coop. The 2nd and 3rd nights she was roosting on the pole, and in the daytime acting normal. 4th day I let her out, and she was over being broody.

She won't let me near her now, though. I'm not going to use the bucket trick again.

 

[SussexInSeattle]

Pardon my newness but what is the bucket trick or where can I read about it?

 

[Attack Chicken]

The bucket thing is where if you have a broody hen you can dunk her in cold water and it supposed breaks broodyness