Broody won't break, to let her sit or not...

[Rysktal]

My dear Tangerine has decided to go broody. I've been taking her eggs and moving her off the nest but she just goes back. I haven't seen her outside at all in over a week.

I only have 4 hens laying right now so I would prefer to just keep taking her eggs.. .but would it be better for her health to give her some eggs and let her do her thing?

What would you do?

(I don't need any more chicks, but I've already re-homed 3 super broody hens but they were dedicated egg thieves, stealing eggs at every chance, Tangerine is only interested in eggs that have been laid in her nest and she's a very nice hen, I would like to keep her)

 

[CutieChicken]

Giving her eggs to hatch might make her happy temporarily, but eventually they’ll hatch and grow up, and she’ll want to brood again. Plus, some of those chicks will grow up to be roosters, and some will grow up to be broody hens, and you’ll end up in the same predicament you are now (plus some extra roosters).

For me, I just evict my broody hens from the coop every morning. If they don’t go scratching and pecking with the others, I pick them up and move them farther away from the coop and nearer the food and water. Then they start acting normal again. By later in the day, they’re all back in the coop, but at least I know they got some food and water. There are some methods to “break” a broody hen, but this works ok for me. I’m still getting eggs, and they seem pretty happy, with the exception of grumping when I pull them off the nest. Just my 2 cents here.

 

[Rysktal]

CutieChicken, thank you! I will try moving her farther outside.

 

[chuckachucka]

I would not let her hatch chicks unless you really want more chickens or have a plan to rehome them, plus as mentioned she will probably mother them maximum a couple of months then lay again then brood again.

I have a lot of chickens who go broody regularly, one of whom lays for only three to four weeks eCh time before going broody again. If I let her hatch chicks every time this would mean three clutches per year.

what I do instead is let the broodies sit for two to three weeks because this is an important rest from egg laying for them. Obviously I only let them sit if they are in good health and weather conditions are not extreme as broodiness takes a toll on them. After three weeks or so I remove them from the nest and block off the nest. Now I realise that if you have multiple birds using one nest box this could be an issue but it is a very effective way of breaking broodiness. They want to return to the nest spot and will pace around outside it for a day and then start going back out with the other chickens. It takes a few days for them to stop clucking and puffing up in their broody way and around two weeks for them to resume laying.

occasionally a chicken will be incredibly stubborn and either find someone else's nest spot to sit on or just sit right there on the ground. In this case you will need to construct a broody breaker cage which consists of a wire bottom cage elevated off the ground a few inches using bricks or something similar. If you search for broody breaker you will find designs. The most stubborn broodies can take a few days in there.

 

[chickens really]

Place her in a wire bottom dog crate elevated off the ground. Will probably take 5 days to break her. Provide feed and water. Can also blow a fan up under the crate to help cool her belly and spread up the process.

 

[Mosey2003]

Try breaking her properly in a cage before you say she won't break. I won't tolerate a broody, myself.

 

[Rysktal]

I don't have a cage to put her in so for now I'm just moving her (annoying her more like).

I do have a friend with some fertile eggs if I want some more dinner birds. We shall see.

 

[chickens really]

I don't have a cage to put her in so for now I'm just moving her (annoying her more like).

I do have a friend with some fertile eggs if I want some more dinner birds. We shall see.

Even 3 eggs will do..

 

[Rysktal]

I gave Tangerine 4 eggs yesterday, since she continues to be persistent.

Next year I will want a few good broodies, so she might as well practice

 

[chuckachucka]

I might have advised against it, but I was secretly rooting for chicks. I have one broody who I let hatch chicks every time she goes broody (4 times total so far) because it makes her so dang happy.