Broody

[Nursepine]

That pen should work unless she's extremely dedicated, in which case you'll want to find a way to get some air under her to cool her belly. So far I've not had a problem simply using a pen versus a wire cage. Keep her penned up with food and water, ideally in a secure location within eyesight of the rest of the flock, until she stops showing broody behaviors (the broody cluck, puffing up, obsessing over nest). 2-5 days should do it.

Thanks
She is really annoyed at me and the other hens keep sitting with her. She still is pacing but calmer today

 

[Nursepine]

That pen should work unless she's extremely dedicated, in which case you'll want to find a way to get some air under her to cool her belly. So far I've not had a problem simply using a pen versus a wire cage. Keep her penned up with food and water, ideally in a secure location within eyesight of the rest of the flock, until she stops showing broody behaviors (the broody cluck, puffing up, obsessing over nest). 2-5 days should do it.

Funny thing is we put a frozen water bottle under her and she stayed right on top of it till is wasnt frozen any more. Lol
This picture is of her being kept seperate i think the other hens miss her.

 

[rosemarythyme]

It's nice that the others can see her because it makes reintegrating her much easier (literally open the door and out she goes). Though in that photo, it seems more that the rest of the flock is enjoying having something new to sit on.

 

[jeepgrrl]

Funny thing is we put a frozen water bottle under her and she stayed right on top of it till is wasnt frozen any more. Lol
This picture is of her being kept seperate i think the other hens miss her.

I'm having the same issue with my Barred Rock. Do you place your hen back in the coop at night or is she staying in her temporary housing the whole time? I am thinking of using a large dog crate but I worry about the nighttime predators. I suppose we could move her into the garage at night if need be.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Some people do put them back to roost at night but I keep them locked up around the clock until the broodiness is over. IF predators are a concern and you feel the run (or wherever the pen/cage is) isn't safe enough for overnight, yes you could move the set up inside a garage or shed, or let her roost if that's the only safe option.

 

[aart]

This picture is of her being kept seperate i think the other hens miss her.

That's a great pic!
She may settle into the nest box in there, then you'll have to remove it.

 

[Heidi Williams]

I have a buff who is broody and have tried many times putting her out of the coop but she runs back in. We have put her out 15 times in a row and runs back in and have tried this daily. We tried giving her another spot to sit but she just ran back to the coop. We have to take her out and close the coop so she would eat but the other chickens needed to go lay their eggs. Last we tried a frozen water bottle under her but she just stayed and sat on that. I have to pull her out to eat and some of her feathers are coming out (not a lot) and she in not laying eggs she sits on the other girls eggs. I am at a loss. What do I do? I was going to get her a fertilized egg but they will only send me 6 and with my luck all 6 will hatch and they would all be rosters.
Please give me more ideas I am stumped.
Suzanne

 

[Heidi Williams]

Hi there. I’m sort of new to the chicken world and recently one of my youngest newly laying hens became broody ... she seems to be triggered by the full moon. So I’ve been dealing with her bloodiness monthly now for several months, and here is what I’ve found that works best for her ... we don’t have roosters to provide chicks, so I had to get creative to break her of being broody. And I’m not a fan of drama and fanfare... I like to keep everything as simple as possible.

As soon as she begins to brood, on the first morning I pull her out of the box and put her with the other hens, then throw down some delicious scratch full of yummy meal worms and sunflower seeds and other chicken candy mixed with their regular food to entice her to eat.

While she is eating, I place a large zip lock baggie full of ice cubes into the nesting box that she likes, large enough to cover most of the nesting area. After about an hour I go back out to the coop to make sure she’s on the ice ... if she isn’t, I place her on it, making sure as much of her belly area as possible is on ice. (Unless her jets are cooled, she will not quit brooding).

Throughout the day, every few hours, I return to the coop with a fresh bag of ice, swap it out, place her back on the fresh ice, and just let her brood on it.

Then in the evening, after dark (because chickens don’t see well in the dark), I go out to the coop and gently pluck her out of the nesting box and place her on the highest perch. She can’t see well enough to get down, so she just stays there all night (in theory this is supposed to snap her out of wanting to be in the nest).

I repeat this process every day until it breaks her broody mood. Sometimes she comes out of it after a few days, other times it might take a week or more.

I have found that the sooner I catch her being broody and the quicker I get her on ice, the shorter her brood is. Also, the more consistent you are with the ice the quicker she comes out of her mood. Currently I have a broken leg and am relying on my husband and neighbors to pull broody duty for me, so she’s been brooding for about 10 Days now (since they’ve not been able to be as consistent as I usually can be), but just this afternoon she was back out running around with the rest of the flock so I’m hoping that she is finished with it.

The key is keeping them cool. When they’re broody they get very hot... so if you cool them down it eventually breaks them of it. Baggies of ice seem to work much better than water bottles (I tried that at first and failed). Also, removing eggs layed by other hens as soon as possible helps discourage her.

I hope this helps!

 

[Heidi Williams]

Generally, how long does it take for a “broken broody” to start laying again?

Mine usually starts laying about a week after coming out of being broody.

 

[Mimi13]

Mine usually starts laying about a week after coming out of being broody.

Thank you.