Buff in the nesting box for 15 hours!!!

[JeannieB60]

Our 9 month old Buff Orpington has been in one of the nesting boxes since yesterday afternoon. She appears to be in no distress. There are 11 other girls in the coop with her. We are getting 7-11 eggs per day. Is she just broody?

 

[aart]

Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

Great description of a broody hen! Fluffy pancake, ha, I love it!

 

[Cryss]

Do you want her to hatch chicks? If so does she have actual fertile eggs u der her? If not, Put her in a dog cage set on brick blocks for 3 days without bedding of any kind, just food and water. Most people will remove the tray and position the cage upsidedown so smaller wire is on the bottom. I've left the tray in place. The only problem was I had to clean up poop.

 

[cmom]

It appears that she might be broody. Years ago when I had my BO's, they went broody quite often. I would take them out of the nest boxes and they would growl at me and puff up and as soon as my back was turned they would get right back in. They were persistent.

 

[aart]

Most people will remove the tray and position the cage upsidedown so smaller wire is on the bottom.

In this case put the tray on top and bungie it in place, or they may be able to get out.

I've got crates rigged with added 1x2 cage mesh on the bottom.
Then you can put the tray under the crate to catch poops without them standing in it.
Was some effort to set them up, but they sure work good and very handy to have!
Pics in this article show added mesh floor and a broody breaker set up.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

 

[sourland]

You can break them of being broody, but you can bet for sure that she will go broody again.

 

[Cryss]

You will need to break the broody whenever one of your girls goes broody. I've done it with good success. The idea is that their body temperature goes up when broody. By putting them in a cage without bedding, only a wire floor raised up on bricks, allows their bellies to cool off. They have no warm bedding to snuggle into. After 3 days minimum they cool off and stop being broody. Let them rejoin the flock. If they return to sitting in the nest for lengthy times immidiatly do it again. A broody will conceivably sit waiting for eggs to hatch without eating or drinking adequately. They don't realise there is not going to be a hatching and die trying. The earlier you break them of their broody mood the easier. First be sure they are broody, but don't wait longer than 3 days.

 

[aart]

Can one really break a hen from being broody?

Yes, you can.
No guarantee she won't, or will, go broody again.

 

[chrissynemetz]

It does sound as if she's broody.