- Feb 14, 2020
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With my determined broody hens it didn't seem so much a choice as a total obsession, something that MUST be done. It's like asking a child with chicken pox not to scratch or a parent not to pick up a crying child. She just cannot help herself. So rather than trying to completely stop her from a behavior that's rooted in instinct and preservation of the species, stop fighting her and just give her a compromise.
If it's a specific box she goes into, let her have it and give her coopmates somewhere else to lay their eggs rather than forcing them to battle her to get into that particular box.
Then you can decide on your options: 1) Let her sit in an eggless nest box by removing any eggs laid in there until the urge to brood eases it's grip on her and she gives up or 2) Slip one or two fake eggs under her to satisfy her irrepressible itch until she gives up, still without producing chicks you don't want.
I've tried both of these methods. It helps to lift the hen out of the box and set her on the ground every time I go in the coop and eventually she takes the hint and stops hopping back in.
Yes, it takes a bit longer and you have to have patience until she gives up. It just seems much kinder to me than dipping my hen in cold water or putting frozen eggs under her (which can cause tissue damage), or locking her in "broody jail." I understand that she isn't laying while she's broody and the eggs are very important but I believe my girls deserve a little consideration during this time because they give so much to me in return.
I wish you both the best of luck.
If it's a specific box she goes into, let her have it and give her coopmates somewhere else to lay their eggs rather than forcing them to battle her to get into that particular box.
Then you can decide on your options: 1) Let her sit in an eggless nest box by removing any eggs laid in there until the urge to brood eases it's grip on her and she gives up or 2) Slip one or two fake eggs under her to satisfy her irrepressible itch until she gives up, still without producing chicks you don't want.
I've tried both of these methods. It helps to lift the hen out of the box and set her on the ground every time I go in the coop and eventually she takes the hint and stops hopping back in.
Yes, it takes a bit longer and you have to have patience until she gives up. It just seems much kinder to me than dipping my hen in cold water or putting frozen eggs under her (which can cause tissue damage), or locking her in "broody jail." I understand that she isn't laying while she's broody and the eggs are very important but I believe my girls deserve a little consideration during this time because they give so much to me in return.
I wish you both the best of luck.
