Broody Phoenix hen

[fancychicklady]

A little before Memorial Day my little Phoenix hen "Spice" went broody. Since I am still new to raising chickens as of January this was my first broody hen. It took me a few days before the lightbulb went off and I realized that's how my eggs were getting moved from box to box and what was going on. I decided I didn't want her to be broody and started doing things to break her. I have given her ice baths, removed her several times a day for treats, and placed her on the roost bar night after night. I have not done the wire dog crate method because I have 2 dog crates that are not wire and I really don't want to spend the money on one or have to find a place to store something else. Last night I finally caved and decided I would leave the other Phoenix hen's egg under her and let her hatch that so that her broodiness would break once she finally had her little chick. This morning I went out to let the chickens out and she had moved off of the egg to another next box and puffed all up when I opened the door to check on her. She had obviously gotten off of the egg not long after I shut them up for the night because the egg was cool to the touch. So my question is this....she has been broody for weeks and is obviously still broody since she is still in a box even if it's the wrong box. Why did she get off of the egg in the night and move to another box leaving that egg? Is it because I took the other eggs out from under her even though I left that one? How can I break her without having to go purchase a wire dog crate??

 

[PIPPAC1986]

Ive got 2 hens and 1 duck broody at the moment- absolute nightmare like yourself i dont fancy the dog crate method as Id have to buy 3 so im thinking of leaving them out the coop for a few nights :-\ not sure if its the right thing to do but hopefully it may help ive got 2 out already just waiting for the third to move out

 

[Weehopper]

I don't think one or two days off a nest is going to make a hen stop being broody. Recently I caught up a hen who was setting on bad eggs off in the brush. The date had long passed the time they were due to hatch. She came in to eat one evening (I feed them inside a pen), and I closed the gate. She remained broody and clucky for around three weeks. It was a long time before I let her out.
I also have another hen who just weaned three chicks. As soon as she started laying again she got all clucky and broody sounding. Now she has gone to setting on an empty nest. She is going to have to do some pen time.
Good luck with your hen. Plan for the long term, and hope for the short.

 

[PIPPAC1986]

Wow so she stayed broody for 3 weeks how long will she go in the pen before shes broken?? My attempt failed anyway they all ganged up on me lol

 

[Weehopper]

Don't know how long this one will take. She looks very determined. Once I pen her, I will mark the days to see how long it takes.

 

[fancychicklady]

Here is an update on Spice! As I previously mentioned she has been broody since Memorial Day. Yesterday she won...after me removing her from the nest boxes all summer long, giving cold water baths, etc she finally beat me. 8 days ago I thought a predator had gotten her. She wasn't in the coop when I went in to close them all in. I searched everywhere...or so I thought. She's always the first one to come running when I bring out treats so I knew something was wrong. A few days later she came back and ate ravenously but was gone an hour later. I knew then she had to have a nest somewhere but couldn't find her anywhere. Yesterday she came back and I stalked her when she left. Found her nest but it was out in the open so I tried moving her to a crate in the run to be safer...she refused to sit. She had been sitting on the eggs out in the rain and looked like a drowned rate. Every time I opened the crate door she went running back and sitting on the nest without the eggs. I moved the crate to where I had found her and she is now a happy broody. My boyfriend cut the small wire mesh fencing to cover all the large air holes in the crate so at night she can be locked up safely. Fingers crossed we have healthy babies in a few weeks. I accidentally dropped one and it cracked open revealing a forming chick inside unfortunately. I felt horrible but at least I now know my rooster is fertile. I have only had chickens since January so I am still learning. The moral of the story...chickens are not stupid. She beat her human and now I am going to be a chicken grandma.