dang-- another broody question

[old geezer]

....dang..it's cold here in ny ,and buttercup has gone broody again---

...4th time this yr.--- i can't soak her with the water treatment as before to stop the broodyness , what else can i do--i think it's too cold to raise chicks right now .

..any other time i would be estatic as this hatch would be from my own hen and my own roo--

---and not some fertilized eggs from my farmer friend that he gave me.,, by the way-- the roo is named button , and from his flock of rhode island reds that i let buffy hatch , and buttercup is a buff orpington , this would have been some great looking chicks---yellow , mahogney red ,,,,dang....

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'd give her a dozen eggs and see what happened. I know your location and the time of year, but there have been pictures on this forum of hens with their chicks in the snow. It is obviously not as good a time of year as you would like, but I think you still have a pretty good chance of success. Obviously you want the chicks. It does depend some on your set-up too. If space is real tight over the winter, it may not be a great idea. My concern would not be the temperatures but how much room Mama has to work with.

If you decide to break her, try putting her in a cage off the ground. The idea is to get air flow under her to cool off her bottom, so a wire bottomed cage works great. Give her food and water, but do not give her anything that looks like a nest. Usually, three days in there is enough for mine, but some can be stubborn.

 

[elmo]

Please don't try dunking the poor chicken in water, especially at this time of year. You could kill her.

 

[ChickiKat]

I don't understand wanting to break a broody. Mine will brood for awhile then stop. None have ever had any adverse outcomes. They brood even when I collect all the eggs. I have let one brood on 4 eggs this last couple of weeks. She is doing fine and I think when her time to brood is done she will get on with something else....

 

[karlamaria]

Cold cold here to, my broody went to sitting and I just took her off eggs every time. Every time a chicken laid an egg she coveted it, I took everything away and put her on the ground. I even blocked her from the nest boxes by putting her in the yard and locking the pen. She would go back in and at night try to sleep in the nest box, but after 3 days of no laying and no sitting on any eggs she cooled off and is hack on the roost. Works wonders for me