Flock disruption - no eggs while broody chicken broods

[sw7777]

hi

I have 8 new hampshire hens who are about 9 months old and have been laying really well in spring time.

We now have a broody chook who is being kept in a separate cage during daylight hours next to the main coop ( should I move the "jail" cage? elsewhere ) to try and break the broody behaviour. As soon as I release her, she will be very pig headed and bolt straight into the coop and keep brooding. Do I need to keep the chook in the broody "jail" 24h a day or let her sleep back in the coop each night?

Problem is that while the flock seems fine and normal and eating & drinking well, but egg production has dropped from 4-6 per day to now 1-2.

If I were on a farm I'd probably just put the broody chook miles away in "Solitary" and wait, but for some reason this one annoying broody chook seems to be holding the others to ransom in terms of laying. Ive had a really careful look around our yard and cant find any other laying locations. As far as I know, there hasnt been any issues with dogs or cats in our yard, nor have the chooks being hassled by other birds. The chook is not trying to hatch eggs, she just sits there doing nothing.

I am at a loss as how best to handle this and would rather do things the right way. One option is move the broody chook out of physical view from the other chooks and see what happens.

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Actually it's best to keep her in view of the flock so as to avoid having to reintegrate her as a new bird.

Broodies can upset the flock so possibly her behavior is upsetting them enough to throw off laying, plus daylight hours shortening could also be a factor even with younger layers.

Is there a reason she's being released each night? Is the broody breaker location unsafe for overnight stays? Can you possibly move the entire breaker into the coop (or even a garage or shed) if you feel its unsafe in the current location?

 

[sw7777]

Actually it's best to keep her in view of the flock so as to avoid having to reintegrate her as a new bird.

Broodies can upset the flock so possibly her behavior is upsetting them enough to throw off laying, plus daylight hours shortening could also be a factor even with younger layers.

Is there a reason she's being released each night? Is the broody breaker location unsafe for overnight stays? Can you possibly move the entire breaker into the coop (or even a garage or shed) if you feel its unsafe in the current location?

Hi

This is all new to me, so I'm happy to try what you suggest. I was releasing her into the coop at night as I wasnt sure how the "broody busting" was to be done.

So what I will do starting tomorrow is put here in broody jail for a full un-broken 48 hours, release, see if she "re-offends" and repeat the process as often as it takes.

The broody jail is just an old dog cage that sits outdoors in the coop run, it has a fine mesh base, a roosting bar, food and water and its covered. I released her from broody jail this afternoon, and she couldnt get into the coop fast enough, she was almost frantic.

By the way, we dont have a rooster and the broody hen isnt sitting on eggs either.

Does that sound reasonable please?

If she doesnt stop after say a week of this, what then?

 

[aart]

Do I need to keep the chook in the broody "jail" 24h a day

Yes.
This is how I do it:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

 

[rosemarythyme]

So what I will do starting tomorrow is put here in broody jail for a full un-broken 48 hours, release, see if she "re-offends" and repeat the process as often as it takes.

Aart's article shows how to set up a breaker very well, so compare yours to hers if you're unsure about it.

I would start at 48 hours straight through and if she's still showing very obvious broody behavior don't even bother letting her out to test, just check again in another 24 more hours. Some birds take longer to break than others, I have one that usually goes 4-5 days even though I begin breaking her right away.

If you're still having issues breaking her after keeping her in the breaker straight through for that long, post again and we'll see what other suggestions we can make.

 

[RisingPhoenixFarms]

Great advice above. How Aart does it is exactly how i do it. I have one girl that it takes about 7 days to break her and the others only 2 or 3. Just make sure enough air is getting through underneath to cool down her underside.

 

[sw7777]

Thanks everyone, will let you know how it goes.