Help with broody hen

[AraucanaMama]

Hi!
My Lavender Araucana has a history of being a very... fussy layer. She is my best layer, dont get me wrong, but when she gets broody, there is nothing that can break her brood. She is currently extremely broody, and I have been wanting to isolate her. How ever, I have done this before in the past when she was broody, and nothing happened.
Typically I wouldn't interfere with a broody hen unless she wasn't taking care of herself, but that's the problem. She isn't eating, preening, getting water, or even leaving the nest to poop. I know this because when I tried taking her off the nest today, she had almost no crop, ran straight to the waterer and took a poop the size of a morning poop, ate most of the food that was in the feeder, and preened so much you would have thought she was stress grooming. (She probably was as I already removed most of the eggs she was sitting on, but it was also clear that she was very scruffed up in a way she only gets when she hasn't been preening herself.)

The last time I tried to break her brood by isolating her, it wasn't nearly as bad as this, so I have little hope she will stop with this one. And with that one, I did all of the things I was supposed to. I didn't have any bedding, No nest like structures/hides, ect.

I really need to break her brood, but am a bit lost. Another thing is that she is currently very low in the pecking order, partially as a result of the other hens only seeing her when they roost, and reintroducing her to the flock isn't going to help that. I don't have the space right now to isolate her and the top bird separately, so kind of worried about that. Also, I am a student and very busy with school work at the moment since it's the end of the year, so I wouldn't be able to fuss over her and make sure she wasn't puffing up on the floor if I isolated her.

I'm truly at a loss here. What should I do? If anyone has any kind of advice, I would really appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[Cinnamon Roll]

The podcast Coffee with the Chicken Ladies has an episode about breaking broody hens the slow way. I haven’t tried it myself, but it sounds like an effective method.

Podcast

 

[aart]

She is currently extremely broody,

How long has she been broody?
The longer you let then set, the longer it can take to break them.
Have you tried the wire cage method?

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire(1x2) on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

After 48 hours I let her out of crate very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate for another 48 hours.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor, gives the feet a break from the wire floor and encourages roosting.

 

[Ridgerunner]

she had almost no crop, ran straight to the waterer and took a poop the size of a morning poop, ate most of the food that was in the feeder, and preened so much you would have thought she was stress grooming

Sounds normal. Before they even start to lay hens build up extra fat, mostly in the pelvic area but really all over their body. That fat is what they mostly live on while broody. That way they can take care of the eggs instead of having to be off the nest looking for food. Mine come off of the nest maybe once or twice a day to eat, drink, take a huge poop, and maybe take a dust bath. The crop is supposed to be empty except right after they eat. They are supposed to lose weight, that's fat put there for that reason. I did not read anything you wrote that caused me any concern.

One thing I do suggest is to check for roost mites at night. Roost mites run from light so you need to check at night when it is dark. Use a flashlight and look in the vent area for tiny critters running from the light. Mine have never had roost mites but broody hens are more susceptible to them since they stay in the nest so much.

As far as breaking her from being broody I can't add anything to what Aart said.

 

[AraucanaMama]

How long has she been broody?
The longer you let then set, the longer it can take to break them.
Have you tried the wire cage method?

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire(1x2) on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

After 48 hours I let her out of crate very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate for another 48 hours.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor, gives the feet a break from the wire floor and encourages roosting.

View attachment 3144140

Sadly I have tried this in the past and it has yet to work. Thank you for the help, though! She has been broody for about 2 days.

 

[Pghelp]

We all know about chicken math! One way to end the broodiness is buy a couple of day old chicks and slip them under her in the night. My Orpington was a fabulous mama hen and did all the work of raising her adopted babies. You don’t say how large your flock might be but if you intend to expand at all letting a broody raise babies is something to consider. Of course my flock is bigger now because watching a mama raise babies is addictive!

 

[Mrs. K]

^^^^This is me, you can easily sell either started chicks, POL or even laying hens...just saying.

 

[Pghelp]

^^^^This is me, you can easily sell either started chicks, POL or even laying hens...just saying.

If you can bear to give them up! That’s why I have an ever growing flock. Good thing my son built a huge enclosed run for me but I’m about full now!