clucky chooks

[willyno1]

I have 2 chooks that have been clucky for some time now. I just yesterday seperated them from other chooks so they have no eggs to sit on but they are still sitting. I removed the box and still they sit on the ground

Some one suggested I dip them in a bucket of water to cool them down but I couldnt bring myself to do that so i just hosed them down with water. That seemed to get them moving

. Time will tell if that is effective. Does any body else have suggestions??

 

[Nonny]

Hosing them won't do any good - the reason you bath them in cool water is to reduce their body temperature.

You could try putting them in a cage with a wire floor so there's absolutely nothing there to nest on, and that will also keep their undercarriage cool as well - similar effect to the water bath.

 

[BrewedInNh]

Oh, I didn't know clucky = broody. When I read the subject line I thought your chooks were noisy. Several of ours do a lot of squacking for about a half hour before laying an egg.


I agree with Nonny on the wire floor cage idea. It worked for us. By the 3rd day the hen gave up on hatching anything. That was months ago and she hasn't relapsed, although we know she could.

 

[Judy]

If you try the wire cage, prop it up on concrete blocks or some such thing, so there is air circulating below them, on their bellies.

This is the classic method, I tried it once and it didn't work for me, though many report it does work, especially if you leave them there til they lay an egg.

I just take them out of the nest and prod them til they get moving, eating and drinking, twice a day. I don't really think they give up any sooner, but it's easy to get the new eggs under them (that they have collected or that someone else has laid) and they don't seem to lose weight, even if they stay broody for several weeks.

 

[willyno1]

Thank you every body. They seem to have snapped out of it now but cant decide if it was the isolation from other chooks, hosing with water or both!