Cannot break broody...what to do

[mobius]

She returns to an empty nest?

A week later she is back in the nesting box starting all over again.

 

[mobius]

Thinking hard, this is all good...

 

[casportpony]

A week later she is back in the nesting box starting all over again.

Laying eggs or just sitting?

 

[chicks are life]

Hanging wire cage so air can get up under her.
Frozen water bottles


No fan because once the fan Is taken away they can easily get a heat stroke.made that mistake and have now have 4/6 left in less then 2 months!!
Now the fan could work if were you live its not 100 degrees plus a couple more degrees of humidify!

 

[Ursuline Chick]

If she is your fav, I would be afraid something would happen to her while she was hiding on a hiden nest in the woods. I'd be afraid for any of mine staying out all night. Better to rent her out or re-home her than have something happen to her.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

I have chronic broodies, some just are. Some will just do it for one season than the next one they are normal. If it is warm it could be helping to keep her warm enough to not totally break each time. I too would try at least a week in the broody box and potentially longer.

Another question is if she's bottom hen? Could she be sleeping in the nestboxes because there's not enough roosts?

I would keep breaking her or leave her sitting on her nest which will eventually get stinky, and she will abandon it. You do run the risk of a predator taking her, so I think trying her in the box for longer will help, that and cooler weather.

As a side note, even though she seems determined to hatch it doesn't mean she would be a good mom. I have had plenty of hens that like setting, but will attack chicks, especially when they are first time moms.

 

[mobius]

Laying eggs or just sitting?

Laying eggs AND sitting. I remove eggs. She sits. She lays. I remove eggs. She sits. Rinse and repeat.

 

[Nupe]

It will take a few weeks after broodiness to start laying again. Maybe it just took that long to stumble in the coop when fresh eggs were just laid. My broody would sit on the nest with the most eggs and when I removed them, she would wait until another nest had eggs before sitting on another box. Until I figured out I needed a broody jail, I was shooing her out of the box and taking eggs several times a day.

 

[mobius]

I have chronic broodies, some just are. Some will just do it for one season than the next one they are normal. If it is warm it could be helping to keep her warm enough to not totally break each time. I too would try at least a week in the broody box and potentially longer.

Another question is if she's bottom hen? Could she be sleeping in the nestboxes because there's not enough roosts?

I would keep breaking her or leave her sitting on her nest which will eventually get stinky, and she will abandon it. You do run the risk of a predator taking her, so I think trying her in the box for longer will help, that and cooler weather.

As a side note, even though she seems determined to hatch it doesn't mean she would be a good mom. I have had plenty of hens that like setting, but will attack chicks, especially when they are first time moms.

She is top hen (I think) if she is not broody. While there is a pecking order, it is not very obvious amongst the six...but she never gets pecked when feeding. They were raised together so are a pretty tight and mellow flock.

There is plenty (a perfect amount I think) of roost space. They all seem to roost together very naturally and keep each other warm in the winter for sure. Even in the summer with it being warmish, there is room enough for them to space out if they need to. Good question.

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

My olive egger does that. She's broody every 3 weeks, and semi broody in between. I put her in the box and she always lays one more egg. I hope next year she's less broody.

I remove her daily after her egg is laid, if she returns to the nest she's back in the box that day, and stays for a week. If she doesn't come back she's left out.