HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Break my broody hen

[3littlechickens]

Any body have suggestions on how to break her of this habit????? I take her out but nothing seems to work

 

[jallny]

broodiness is very common in hens, even without roosters... some breeds are broody more than others. you should seperate her from the others. kepp her in a small cage (like a dog crate). raise it above the ground with food and water and a perch. she should be broody for a few days, every two days check, keep in mind looks can be decieving she could be broody again within a few hours. she will not lay for about a week, so dont be afraid if she stops laying!

any questions, just send me a pm!

 

[sourland]

Pen her away from the nest site. In my experiene most hens require a matter of weeks rather than days to stop being broody. If you release her too early, she will go right back to her nest.

 

[artsy1]

I am having same problem with 1 of mine...using the cage, not working...

 

[devora]

In my experiene most hens require a matter of weeks rather than days to stop being broody.

Spot on.

I used to get frustrated when the whole thing wasn't wrapped up in a few days but this is wrong: Sometimes the girl just needs more time.

Patience, Grasshopper.

 

[TwoCrows]

I was having the same trouble with breaking my broody girl this past week. And caging her was not working. So I filled up a large tub of cold water and soaked her in it for 5 full mins! She was good for about 5 hours and I caught her back in the nest box growling at me and guarding her fake egg. So she got another "broody soak". And this time it worked!! She has been broody free for one and a half days. She is back to eating again, which she had stopped doing and is now hanging out with the girls instead of dreaming of baby chicks!

Edit to add: During broodiness, the hens temperature rises and by soaking the broody, lowers her temp and her hormones tell her she is not warm enough to brood chicks.

Good luck!

 

[soukilee93]

I was having the same trouble with breaking my broody girl this past week. And caging her was not working. So I filled up a large tub of cold water and soaked her in it for 5 full mins! She was good for about 5 hours and I caught her back in the nest box growling at me and guarding her fake egg. So she got another "broody soak". And this time it worked!! She has been broody free for one and a half days. She is back to eating again, which she had stopped doing and is now hanging out with the girls instead of dreaming of baby chicks!

Edit to add: During broodiness, the hens temperature rises and by soaking the broody, lowers her temp and her hormones tell her she is not warm enough to brood chicks.

Good luck!

I think I am going to have to give this a try. I have a hen who has fooled me now into thinking she was no longer broody as it felt as though her temp had gone down and she went out and started joining the others eating, etc. and then tonight I went to lock everyone up for the night and there she is hiding in the nest lower than low. I will let you know how it goes!!

 

[stargazingmommy]

ok I'm going to admit to a bad chickie momma moment...
my Salmon Faverolle when broody in January, after having been broody the end of November. I tried the kick her off the nest, lock her away from it for days and days...then one day, I grabbed her off the nest and tossed her into the yard...and she landed in the ducks slushy icey pool(fortunately it wasn't real deep)...then I had a mad...wet...hen...
but she wasn't broody anymore. I did take her inside to dry off and warm up
No, I don't suggest this or condone this...but it worked...
however, she's broody again. going into week 4(and a duck egg that should be hatching in the next week)


Edit-and after reading the above on the broody bath...I don't feel so bad now.

 

[chicken6465]

Good luck I have a, seperate pin I keep them in for weeks and sometime they still go broody,finally I gve in and put fertile eggs under her

 

[soukilee93]

I think I am going to have to give this a try. I have a hen who has fooled me now into thinking she was no longer broody as it felt as though her temp had gone down and she went out and started joining the others eating, etc. and then tonight I went to lock everyone up for the night and there she is hiding in the nest lower than low. I will let you know how it goes!!

Well, she got dipped twice today in a cold bath. Needless to say she was not happy at all about it and to show how disapproving she was she is still broody. Now she keeps moving from nest to nest but she will not leave the nest boxes. I normally have 9 laying hens but my eggs are dwindling in number.