First Broody Chicken... Not sure what to do?!

[farmerwannab]

I have four Buff Orps and one of them has gone broody. I have no roosters so I know it's not a fertilized egg. None of my other three have laid today. Do I force her out of the box? Do I leave the egg there or take the egg? Do I have to separate her? Please help!!! I know there are many threads about broody chicks but none seem to answer my questions. Thanks in advance!

 

[Vicky2479]

I would push her out and see wether she keeps coming back, some people have been able to break a broody by just doing this for a few days, you will need to remove any eggs as soon as you can, but if she is determined and you really need to break her out of it then you need to put her in a separate cage with no access to any nests, I think most people use wire bottom cages suspended off the ground so the air can under her, I just used my small coop/run combo with nest box blocked off and the poop tray removed so there was just the roost about a foot of the ground, she stayed there for 3 days and it seemed to have worked so far.

 

[thebanthams]

If you want chickies, find someone you can get eggs from, Theres nothing you can do but keep the eggs from her, if you can pick her up and make her go out and give her special treats, like watermelon or? she will give up in a few days. But it doesnt end there. she will want to go broody again another time !

 

[farmerwannab]

Thanks! I got her out of the box and laid her near the water and after about a minute she took a drink and eventually ate. She acted weak so I'm glad I posted here and got her out. She was out for about 15-20 minutes then went back in. I got her out again but had to close the door for the hen house hoping that maybe if she spends the night "outside" (in the run area with three closed sides to block the wind) with the other 3 girls it'll help discourage her. The other three girls didn't lay today and I'm thinking it's because of her. She's shutting my operation down! lol.