Broody, unhappy hen-advice?

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

Lol I thought the same. She seemed much better yesterday after I came home from work. She was up moving around in crate(before would just lady down and not move a whole lot) This morning she actually ran out of the crate when I opened the door to give her a treat. I was like hey, this is not how this works! Haha. I thought about maybe tonight or tomorrow night as she is getting stir crazy. Do you usually put in run close to roosting time or have you tried putting on roost at night?

We have mean hens that attack any lower ranked broodies. Once the broodiness breaks, then the hen reintegratea with the mean hens without a problem - it’s the broodiness that they object to so things go back to normal when she stops being broody. Some other BYC poster stated that the flock is objecting to low ranked broodiness because only the dominant hens are “supposed” to be raising chicks. I don’t know what they are really thinking, but I’ve had both low and high ranked hens go broody recently (I have a lot of broody birds!) and the high ranked hens are not attacked but the low ranked ones are attacked by all... I have to separate broody mid-low ranked hens for their own safety, either to a broody breaker box or to a rabbit hutch with eggs if I want them to incubate and brood chicks. In my flock, once they’ve successfully hatched chicks, even the low ranked hen/chicks are able to return to the flock without getting attacked more than normal. Hopefully your hen’s broodiness breaks soon!

 

[aart]

Ok, I thought about doing this- will the other hens attack her? My other idea was to sneak her onto the roost at night so they won't notice so much. Then if in the nest in the morning after sunrise could crate her again. What do you think? I know several of them were attacking her when I would remove from nest and put in run so she would eat/be out of nest.

I like to keep them near the flock and letting them out once a day to keep them all acclimated, never had too much trouble with either broody or other birds being too aggressive.

 

[bmetz]

So I put her on the roost last night. Checked on them and gave treats this morning. The broody one is not in the nest which is great but she is now clucking in the run again and so a few others are going after her. She was not clucking or acting broody anymore in the crate. She wanted out and was pacing and getting stir crazy at times. Should I put her back in the chicken jail? I assume since still clucking...still broody?...but she would normally be on nest when checked in am before work. If she would just stop clucking the others would leave her be...

 

[bmetz]

Think I will hurry and grab her and put back in crate. Don't want others being mean to her. Maybe a few more days will help..fingers crossed.

 

[aart]

She wanted out and was pacing and getting stir crazy at times. Should I put her back in the chicken jail? I assume since still clucking...still broody?...but she would normally be on nest when checked in am before work. If she would just stop clucking the others would leave her be...

How long was she in the crate?
Did she ever settle down at all?
I find they settle within a few hours, spending the night in there can help them accept the confinement, tho there will always be some pacing. Letting them out while still clucking is almost like starting over again, once you find them back in the nest.

 

[bmetz]

How long was she in the crate?
Did she ever settle down at all?
I find they settle within a few hours, spending the night in there can help them accept the confinement, tho there will always be some pacing. Letting them out while still clucking is almost like starting over again, once you find them back in the nest.

She was in for 3 nights and 4 days. She was fairly calm the first few days as she was still broody and just wanted to lay down in crate. Then she was a lot more active- no more clucking, eating and drinking well, moving around and wanting out. She had periods of wanting out and pacing then settling. When I opened the door yesterday morning she took off out of it lol. Seemed like she wasn't broody anymore to me. She spent the night on the roost and was out in the run with the others this morning which I was glad to see. Not back on the nest which is a first for her when I would go check in morning before her time in "chicken jail." She was clucking in the run though(Which I was not happy to see/hear...) so I am not sure if she would have tried to return to the nest later today. Maybe the clucking but her not on the nest means she just needs a little longer in the crate? The others were not having the broody clucking again with a couple going after her several times. Ugh.

 

[bmetz]

We have mean hens that attack any lower ranked broodies. Once the broodiness breaks, then the hen reintegratea with the mean hens without a problem - it’s the broodiness that they object to so things go back to normal when she stops being broody. Some other BYC poster stated that the flock is objecting to low ranked broodiness because only the dominant hens are “supposed” to be raising chicks. I don’t know what they are really thinking, but I’ve had both low and high ranked hens go broody recently (I have a lot of broody birds!) and the high ranked hens are not attacked but the low ranked ones are attacked by all... I have to separate broody mid-low ranked hens for their own safety, either to a broody breaker box or to a rabbit hutch with eggs if I want them to incubate and brood chicks. In my flock, once they’ve successfully hatched chicks, even the low ranked hen/chicks are able to return to the flock without getting attacked more than normal. Hopefully your hen’s broodiness breaks soon!

I was hoping that would be the case- they really don't like her being broody! A couple of them will go after her anytime she gets close to them. Hmm that is interesting! I guess it makes sense that the more dominant ones would want to raise chicks. I thought she was better and put her back on the roost last night. Guess I was wrong. She was not on nest this morning but was doing her broody clucking in the run...which meant being picked on by the others. Back in the "chicken jail" for a few more days I guess. Poor girl. Thank you!

 

[aart]

they really don't like her being broody!

Does she have plenty of space to get away...and 'hiding' places(that aren't a nest-haha!)
Might have to treat it like an integration, lots of space, multiple feed/water stations, and hiding places.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

I was hoping that would be the case- they really don't like her being broody! A couple of them will go after her anytime she gets close to them. Hmm that is interesting! I guess it makes sense that the more dominant ones would want to raise chicks. I thought she was better and put her back on the roost last night. Guess I was wrong. She was not on nest this morning but was doing her broody clucking in the run...which meant being picked on by the others. Back in the "chicken jail" for a few more days I guess. Poor girl. Thank you!

Most of mine have broke after a few days in a cage, but I’ve had a couple that were really hard to break. I think that if they sit in the nest for a few days before trying to break them, it can be harder. Also, if your breaking area allows them to nest at all, it might not work. I had a silkie this summer that I could not break. After trying several times I finally gave her eggs and let her go through incubation. She also was terrible at eating and drinking when broody; I had to take her out daily to get her to eat and drink a tiny bit. Her eggs didn’t hatch (long story but shipped eggs) and she had lost so much weight by then. So ended up with a last minute chick shipment and slipped chicks under her. She’s done great with them and ate nonstop for days after getting those chicks! Without going through the whole incubation period and ending with chicks, I don’t know that I could have broken her broodiness, but there were other factors, like the death of all of her good friends just before all of this. I don’t think that your hen sounds as extreme as my silkie but it may take a few more days...

 

[bmetz]

So she has been "broken" of her broodiness since Monday night/Tues morning. Before when she was broody clucking, a few hens were after her. Now she is no longer broody and no longer clucking in the coop or run but there is still one hen after her. I believe she has pulled some of the feathers on her neck and I am not happy about that. The broody one flies up on a roost in the run or sometimes goes in the coop and gets on that roost and hangs out. Not sure if I should try to do something here. Don't want my broody, sweet girl getting hurt anymore. Not sure how to stop the aggression from the one hen. Is it possible to stop it? The others don't seem to have anything against her...just the one hen as far as I know. Do I need to bring broody back in(not my favorite option to have a chicken in the sunroom in a crate lol) or do I need to rehome the mean one, or just let it play out a bit longer? I just don't want my broody girl not enjoying life you know? She is already missing the feathers she pulled to nest etc and I just hate that she is not able to be like before/like the others. I did put food and water in coop in case the mean hen is keeping her from eating/drinking freely. Any thoughts? Thank you guys!