Chick Return Program??

[townchicks]

We view them as pets, so we give them the cushiest life we can. My mom and I both feel uncomfortable with putting any sort of animal into a cage with a wire bottom for the sole purpose of, well, making them uncomfortable;

There is such a thing as killing them with kindness. You don't want to put her in a cage because you and your mom would feel guilty. Well, pet care sometimes involves doing things for the sake of the pet.Feelings of guilt, in this case, are misplaced. It will not harm your hen to put her in a wire crate for a short while. Even if you can get some chicks now, and find good homes for them, this is, at best, a temporary solution. That is not a sustainable option for every time she goes broody. Because she most likely will go broody again.

 

[Mixed flock enthusiast]

My mom and I are veryyyy attached to our chickens. We view them as pets, so we give them the cushiest life we can. My mom and I both feel uncomfortable with putting any sort of animal into a cage with a wire bottom for the sole purpose of, well, making them uncomfortable; even if it's only for a couple days, we'd still feel so guilty. I've kept her away from the nest for a couple hours, done the ice packs, soaked her in water today, tried to give her treats every time she was down (not by her own means)... it feels like I only have two options left. I don't want to get animals with the purpose of reselling them, nor do I want to make my pet uncomfortable purposefully, but I have to make a choice. The unfortunate part is my mom doesn't really understand why being broody is a bad thing, nor that she won't just "quit it" if I let her go at it for a while. Aaaaagghhh. I'll try looking on craigslist and maybe start emailing some nearby people...

Our silkie is also a pet. We have a lot of broody prone birds, like black copper marans, besides Susan the silkie. One other method I’ve used is this: we have a separate fenced section of the run with food, water, shelter, but no nesting material. Broody girl goes into the run section in the morning; she can see friends but can’t get to nest box. At night, when it’s pretty dark, broody girl goes on roost with flockmates, then back to run section in the AM. Our mild broodies will break in a few days. This only works if: 1) they don’t plop down and make their own “nest” in the run. 2) they stay on the roost at night and don’t jump off in the dark to find a nest.

Susan, being a silkie, is harder to break; she will make her own nest and won’t stay on the roost. Last spring, her best friend Marilyn the showgirl (see pic) died, and Susan really went into a funk. We let her stay in a nest too long (almost a week) because she was so sad about her friend and was being picked on by the flock. Then we couldn’t break her. She would eat only a tiny bit and hardly drink. We eventually decided to let her sit on the nest, and got eggs for her to hatch. She was so very dedicated. We had to take her off the nest and outside of the run to get her to eat. She wouldn’t eat real food, only fruit and some scratch, and only a tiny bit of these. She barely drank. This gave her diarrhea, and she lost so much weight, vigor, and spirit. She was so thin and just seemed to be a barely living incubating machine. I was very worried about her. Her hatch failed. She had no babies, no muscle left on her breast, no energy, and she still would barely eat or leave the nest. We decided at this point that she needed the chicks to break her, or she’d probably die soon. It took a few more days, but I found her young chicks, she accepted them, and immediately ate a ton.

Susan might be a great incubating machine, but she’s a horrible broody pet. Being broody was absolutely awful for her health, and I never want to put her through that again if I can help it. We have other broody hens that have incubated eggs, and it’s somewhat hard on all of them, but Susan was by far the worst at taking care of herself. I’ll never put her through that experience and risk her health like that again if I can help it. Her broody breaker cage is in the run so she can see her friends. She has food and water, safety and shelter. She’s only miserable because she wants to be on a nest, but I know from experience that she is much better off with a few days of discomfort then she is turning into a mindless, slowly wasting away incubator.

 

[NatJ]

My mom and I both feel uncomfortable with putting any sort of animal into a cage with a wire bottom for the sole purpose of, well, making them uncomfortable; even if it's only for a couple days, we'd still feel so guilty.

It's not for the sole purpose of making the hen uncomfortable. It's the for primary purpose of making her quit being broody. (Like a doctor treating an injury: he's not TRYING to hurt someone, he's helping them.)

The unfortunate part is my mom doesn't really understand why being broody is a bad thing, nor that she won't just "quit it" if I let her go at it for a while.

I have never had silkies--I see plenty of other folks saying silkies are too persistent for their own good. So I can clearly see that breaking the broodiness of this hen could be in her best interest. And if it IS best for her, then making her uncomfortable may be unpleasant but necessary.

Having said that, I personally feel the way your mom does. I once had a partridge chantecler that set for 3-7 weeks at a time, all summer long (took a few weeks off and started over, and over, and over). She never hatched any eggs. I just left her in the nest in the pen with my other chickens, gathered eggs twice a day, maintained the usual feed and water supply--and my hen apparently did fine. (She was a funny chicken: laid really well all winter, then wanted to set all summer.)

 

[sean_wonder]

The problem is though, she’s already loosing weight and it’s just day five. If I pick her up and put her down, even in the open yard, she’ll make a nest right away. She eats very little and drinks less. Goose has just gone broody today and she’s already as bad. I kicked her off the nest (not literally, obviously) and she went and made her own nest in the exact spot I dropped her with no hesitation. Her crop is half full, but I think it’s from yesterday...

 

[sean_wonder]

I understand the point of the wire cage, but I’m worried my mom simply won’t allow it due to it’s longer nature. Meaning, the ice pack is an escapable discomfort. She is choosing to be uncomfortable by remaining on the nest. The cold water is temporary, and dries within the day. The cage, however, is a couple days, if not more, of standing and sleeping on an uncomfortable wire cage. Being broody is clearly bad for their health... in only five days time she’s lost nearly all her belly feathers and kinesthetically noticeable weight loss. I am so worried. I knew Silkies were frequent broodies, and was prepared for the result, but my goodness... I wish I’d known how committed they were. No one’s fault but my own.

 

[sean_wonder]

Badonkadonk has also started having diarreah.

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

I understand the point of the wire cage, but I’m worried my mom simply won’t allow it due to it’s longer nature. Meaning, the ice pack is an escapable discomfort. She is choosing to be uncomfortable by remaining on the nest. The cold water is temporary, and dries within the day. The cage, however, is a couple days, if not more, of standing and sleeping on an uncomfortable wire cage. Being broody is clearly bad for their health... in only five days time she’s lost nearly all her belly feathers and kinesthetically noticeable weight loss. I am so worried. I knew Silkies were frequent broodies, and was prepared for the result, but my goodness... I wish I’d known how committed they were. No one’s fault but my own.

Here’s the deal pal. What you are trying is clearly not working. I understand that you adore your silkie and that you don’t want to put her in an uncomfortable situation. I can tell that you want her to no longer be broody. I strongly recommend that you put her in the cage. She will be okay! As long as your girl has proper food and water, she will be fine in the wire cage for a few days. You will not be hurting her. That is hands-down the best option.

 

[Kusanar]

Here's an option, put a 2x4 flat in the bottom of the wire cage in the middle, she can stand or sit on that to rest her feet from the wire. It shouldn't hold TOO much heat against her belly to keep her broody and it may feel enough like a perch that she will be "perching" rather than "brooding". Supply unlimited food and water in the cage so she can eat and drink. It may not be quite as effective as having her straight on the wire, but it should ease your worries about her comfort as she isn't being forced to be on the wire, she can get on the board at any time she wants off the wire, same logic as your ice packs.

Honestly, from your descriptions, you seem to have 2 options, make her slightly uncomfortable for a while by putting her in a cage to break her, or let her be "happy" and watch her starve herself to death in the nest.

Something you don't seem to have considered as well is that some broody hens will not take grafted chicks, so even if you get her young chicks, she may freak out, kill them, and continue her broody streak... No, it's not logical, but she's a hormonal bird brain, you can't really expect too much out of her....

 

[4 Georgia Hens]

Here's an option, put a 2x4 flat in the bottom of the wire cage in the middle, she can stand or sit on that to rest her feet from the wire. It shouldn't hold TOO much heat against her belly to keep her broody and it may feel enough like a perch that she will be "perching" rather than "brooding". Supply unlimited food and water in the cage so she can eat and drink. It may not be quite as effective as having her straight on the wire, but it should ease your worries about her comfort as she isn't being forced to be on the wire, she can get on the board at any time she wants off the wire, same logic as your ice packs.

Honestly, from your descriptions, you seem to have 2 options, make her slightly uncomfortable for a while by putting her in a cage to break her, or let her be "happy" and watch her starve herself to death in the nest.

Something you don't seem to have considered as well is that some broody hens will not take grafted chicks, so even if you get her young chicks, she may freak out, kill them, and continue her broody streak... No, it's not logical, but she's a hormonal bird brain, you can't really expect too much out of her....

 

[Aunt Angus]

My mom and I are veryyyy attached to our chickens. We view them as pets, so we give them the cushiest life we can. My mom and I both feel uncomfortable with putting any sort of animal into a cage with a wire bottom for the sole purpose of, well, making them uncomfortable; even if it's only for a couple days, we'd still feel so guilty. I've kept her away from the nest for a couple hours, done the ice packs, soaked her in water today, tried to give her treats every time she was down (not by her own means)... it feels like I only have two options left. I don't want to get animals with the purpose of reselling them, nor do I want to make my pet uncomfortable purposefully, but I have to make a choice. The unfortunate part is my mom doesn't really understand why being broody is a bad thing, nor that she won't just "quit it" if I let her go at it for a while. Aaaaagghhh. I'll try looking on craigslist and maybe start emailing some nearby people...

My chickens are so spoiled that they won't sleep if I don't hold them, pet them, and put them to bed every night. They probably would if I refused to oblige them, but I love cuddle time. So, yeah, I understand completely about the wire cage.

However, I have a girl who for the first 8 mobths or so after reaching point of lay went broody about every 4-6 weeks. She plucked herself bald and was a feather covered skeleton. She wouldn't fully recover between episodes, and each broody spell pushed her closer to death. I gave her chicks once, but once they reached 4 weeks, mama went broody again. She lost all color in her comb and would fall over if I took her out of the nest. I'd tried ice and cold baths and locking her out of the nest. I decided enough was enough, and I broke her using the crate. I KNOW she would have died if I hadn't.

FWIW, I realize now it was more cruel for me to let her wither away than to break her. She has only been broody once since, and all I had to do to break her this time was take her off the nest and keep her out of it for a couple of hours.