Hen Staying Broody, should I take her chick away?

[smott]

I have a satin silkie hen who stays broody all the time! She went broody last fall, and I really didn't want her to hatch any since I had another hen who had JUST hatched several. When the other hen's chicks were a couple of weeks old, she "adopted" them and decided to co-parent. She followed them all over until the chicks accepted her, and she continued to mother them long after their hatching mama rejected them. That was in November. She has continued to sit in the nesting box, and some of the half-grown boys are still wanting to sit in there with her. I remove all eggs a couple of times a day, but she keeps on sitting. I have brought her outside and even tried locking her out of the coop, but when I open it back up she goes right back in there. Last week I decided to allow her to hatch one of the eggs I had been incubating. (I didn't want to give her more than one, because I wasn't sure how it would go with the "teenage" boys she mothered still hanging around). I separated a small area for mama and baby, and the chick seems to be doing fine, however I keep finding mama hen escaped to a neighboring box to sit on eggs that the other hens have laid. Usually the baby is with her, but a few times it has not been. I thought hatching the chick would end her broody spell, but apparently it hasn't. I don't want the baby to not be taken care of, and I'm not home all day to make sure it is eating/drinking properly. Should I take the baby away? I have babies the same age in the brooder to put it with.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

That's an unusual problem. I would put the chick with the brooder chicks and put the hen in broody jail. That is an elevated wire bottom cage with a little food and water in the cage. There can be no way to plunk her bottom onto a solid surface because you want cool air to get to her underside so the hormone cycle that keeps her broody to be broken.

 

[smott]

That's an unusual problem. I would put the chick with the brooder chicks and put the hen in broody jail. That is an elevated wire bottom cage with a little food and water in the cage. There can be no way to plunk her bottom onto a solid surface because you want cool air to get to her underside so the hormone cycle that keeps her broody to be broken.

Thanks. She is stubborn lol. I have bathed her plucked-bare chest area with cool water, put her out in the snow ...Really was trying to break her nicely, but I guess it's not going to work. I will have to try to figure out a way to make her a broody jail! I have a dog kennel, but it has a solid plastic tray in the bottom that slides in over the wire and the wire holes are too large to use without the tray.
How long does it usually take in "Jail"?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Remove the tray.
I've tried everything from ice in the nest to constantly removing them. It is a waste of time.
I grew up with leghorns but with 100 hens, there were always 2-4 hens in broody jail. That is really the only thing that works.

 

[rosemarythyme]

With most birds about 3 days in a broody breaker will do it, but with a serial broody like this, chicken jail may not even be enough. Really hard to say, all you can do is try it.

 

[HawaiiCoyote]

Thanks. She is stubborn lol. I have bathed her plucked-bare chest area with cool water, put her out in the snow ...Really was trying to break her nicely, but I guess it's not going to work. I will have to try to figure out a way to make her a broody jail! I have a dog kennel, but it has a solid plastic tray in the bottom that slides in over the wire and the wire holes are too large to use without the tray.
How long does it usually take in "Jail"?

I'm pretty sure the only way that the water technique works is to dunk half the bird in really cold water. I successfully broke a few broodies this way. The trick is to get them wet enough that they can't go back in the coop for hours, and it has to be cold or they will just go back into the nesting box wet. Mine won't go lay on eggs if they are sopping wet & super cold but In your case, I agree with all the others on a broody jail. If not even ice can do it I dought cold water can. One stubborn girl, you got there!
Here's an article on broody jail:
https://scatteredstraws.com/chicken-jail/
this hen only took 48 hours to break,
but I think it depends on the chicken

 

[aart]

I will have to try to figure out a way to make her a broody jail! I have a dog kennel, but it has a solid plastic tray in the bottom that slides in over the wire and the wire holes are too large to use without the tray.

Add 1x2 wire mesh to the bottom of the crate.
If you do it carefully enough you can still use the tray when needed.
Some pics here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

 

[smott]

Add 1x2 wire mesh to the bottom of the crate.
If you do it carefully enough you can still use the tray when needed.
Some pics here:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/

Thanks aart. I have a little bit of hardware cloth left over from when we built the run, so I'm sure I can cut some to fit!