How Can I Get A Hen UN Broody?

[snaffle]

I have never been unsuccessful in 'breaking' a broody.

This year is different.

I have put the hen in a dog cage without a pan in the bottom... no water or food for a few days...
she still wants to set.

I have dunked her in water
and she still wants to set.

She has been in that cage for over 2 weeks. I let her out every few days to eat and drink.

Tonight I hung the cage from a rafter so it can swing.....I have heard that is unsettling to a broody hen...

If that doesnt work... what tricks do you use to change the mind of a broody hen?

 

[Sjisty]

Let me see if I read this right. You put your hen in a cage and didn't feed her for two days because you were afraid she was going to lose weight being broody? Sound like the cure is worse than the problem.

I usually just let my girls be broody. I've never lost one yet.

 

[critterkeeper25]

I have read this thread, and the replies that follow. I just have to get this off my chest...This OP came here (I believe) to find BETTER advice on how to stop the broody behavior in one of his/her hens. There were some very helpful posts, in my opinion. BUT..there were also some that offered little beyond chastisement. Now...we don't know where this person is from, at least I didn't look to see. Maybe from the country. Maybe they are getting old time advice from the only source that they have. Then they decide to come here. For advice from people that seem to know what they are really doing. You know what I mean? There are people that come from different cultures, even within our own country. They feel/believe different things than some of us. That is who we are. We are all different. Now, you may have been made angry by some of the things that the OP said that they did. That's okay too. You are entitled to your opinion and beliefs. But it is MY belief that ALL people deserve to be treated with kindness and respect.

Not long ago I posted a little note to the moderators of this Forum. I told them how much that I appreciated the fact that there was no ridicule or condesention here. That this was an excellent site to visit for good information/advice and none of the aforementioned treatment of others. I came from another forum for horses where people were ridiculed and actually harassed for some of the advice that they gave and questions that they had asked. I thought that this place was different. I guess it's not. Let me tell you something...if anyone here decides to chastise me for some question that I might need answers to, or for some statement that I may make that someone might not agree with..I am going to tell that person/those people where to get off and then I am going to find a site that DOES treat people the way that they should be treated. If that does even exhist.

Do I agree with some of the ways that the OP had tried to break their hen of broodiness? NO I don't. But giving someone some good advice, better advice than what that person WAS getting is a better way to show them how to better care for their animals than chastising them and sending them away, so that maybe they continue to get their advice form their original source. Don't you think?

END OF RANT!

PS..Maybe the moderators put this post up so that we would give this person some GOOD advice, that maybe they needed it?

 

[aart]

I have never been unsuccessful in 'breaking' a broody.

This year is different.

I have put the hen in a dog cage without a pan in the bottom... no water or food for a few days...
she still wants to set.

I have dunked her in water
and she still wants to set.

She has been in that cage for over 2 weeks. I let her out every few days to eat and drink.

Tonight I hung the cage from a rafter so it can swing.....I have heard that is unsettling to a broody hen...

If that doesnt work... what tricks do you use to change the mind of a broody hen?

No food and water is cruel IMO.
They should have at least water available at all times when in the cage.

Was the crate up off the floor by a good 4-6"?
That is essential.
Take the pan out, but put smaller wire on the bottom so they can stand.

I let them out at at least once a day to go outside and mingle with the flock and dust bathe, when they head back to the nest, back in the crate.
One fine day they will stay out of the nest and go to roost with the flock again.

 

[itzybitzyfarm]

When the temps are hot you GIVE her water? That's big of you! Geez, why dont you torture the hen for just doing what comes naturally. Good grief, some people should not be allowed to have animals.

 

[WthrLady]

Tossing in my two cents.

My coop is maxed out with chicken numbers and just doesn't need more chicks running around. So while it would be nice to let my Miss Broody Butts go au naturale, it just isn't practical. When hens go broody, something in their brains just snaps. They aren't normal chickens anymore, they are nuts.

Letting a hen go broody and NOT sit on eggs, can lead to death. Sitting on eggs to hatching lasts 21 days, and while they do eat and drink during that time, the amount of weight they loose is shocking. When they are NOT sitting on eggs, but acting the part, they'll sit long past the 21 days, and can even starve to death.

The broody breaker cage hasn't worked here, but I would always provide food and water at all times. The cage has small hardware wire for it's bottom to allow cooler air to circulate around their warm bum.

The idea being, that the cooler air constantly cooling them off, helps turn off their nutty switch.

I'm not a fan of the ice eggs substitutions, the ice in a bag in the nest box, or the frozen bottles of water method. I think it would be too cold, but my biggest problem is the moisture. The added moisture from condensation or melting gets into the nest boxes, and makes a mess with the other birds. Dusty birds, and wet = extra dirty eggs. (my broodies switch boxes, and other hens have no problem sitting on top of a broody, when you gotta go, you gotta go!)

Removing them every time they crawl into the nest box works for one of my hens, but you have to be diligent and do it all day long for a couple days.

What has worked for my stubborn Lavender Orpington and my Olive Egger is a cool, NOT COLD, bath. We have 100' days AND my hens are used to show baths. So going into water isn't traumatic for them. They actually just sit in three inches of water, feet resting on a washcloth, sitting in a large old roasting pan, like a duck (not floating, sitting). I sit with them the whole time. There is nothing in the water, but water. After 5-10 minutes, I lift them out, let them drip for a second, and spend the afternoon drying and preening. Two to three days, and no more Miss Broody Butt.

Eggs laying comes later. Broody here isn't about egg drop in production. A broody sits for three weeks and kicks back into laying about 3 -4 weeks later, so 7 weeks of no eggs from that hen. Stopping a broody, and you can still be without eggs from that hen for 3-5 weeks. HOWEVER, if you have more than one hen going broody, OR you are maxed out in your population or breeding program, all those non-layers can really hit the pocketbook hard at the peak of the season.

So I guess it boils down to finding something that works for you, works for the hen you are dealing with it, and being patient with the process.

 

[sunflour]

If you google for scientific studies on broodiness, there are 2 studies that I find interesting. ( sorry, didn't keep the links).

Broodiness is caused by increased Prolactin hormones, there are numerous studies that prove this.

One study on chickens showed that depriving them of nest access for 48-72 hours resulted in a significant drop in PL, ending the broody phase. IMO this explains how a broody box works.

Another study was on Turkeys and likely applies to chickens as well. When broody poultry were moved from a darkened nest to lighter surroundings, the PL level dropped significantly, again reducing the PL levels. An argument for increasing the light in the nest areas.

Others have shown tactile stimuli - like eggs, fake eggs, or chicks under a hen increase PL levels. So collect eggs regularly, avoid fake eggs in nests of laying hens, and avoid picking up or handling the broody breeds.

** I have a BO who goes broody often, but in the past never over a couple of weeks. But this time, she has been sitting a month. Today, I removed the nest curtains, left the coop door open to let in more light and SHE CAME OUT and has been with the flock for hours. Wish I had researched a little deeper in the past.

 

[SilkieNation]

Why do people go to such extreme measures, IMO even to the point of traumatizing the hen, to break her broodiness? Is it the loss of egg production for those who sell their eggs, or is there another reason?

 

[CrazyChickLady7]

The hen is a cochin banty.

Don't worry folks...when the temps are warmer she has access to a pan of water.

I have the cage hanging about 2 feet off the ground. Several times today I when I was in the building, I would step inside the pen...and give the cage a push so it would swing.

She is still wanting to be a mother.

The main reason I am trying to get her out of the broodiness is because a hen can drop a lot of weight when setting. I have had hens die on the nest because they refuse to get off the nest to eat and drink.

She has been broody for close to 3 weeks... maybe longer. 

It is time for her to stop!!

Hens can loose weight going broody, but they will also loose weight when under stress and when they don't have food.

 

[chicknmania]

I have never been unsuccessful in 'breaking' a broody.

This year is different.

I have put the hen in a dog cage without a pan in the bottom... no water or food for a few days...
she still wants to set.

I have dunked her in water
and she still wants to set.

She has been in that cage for over 2 weeks. I let her out every few days to eat and drink.

Tonight I hung the cage from a rafter so it can swing.....I have heard that is unsettling to a broody hen...

If that doesnt work... what tricks do you use to change the mind of a broody hen?

What the heck is the point of no food or water? Not only is it cruel, but it makes no sense! Put the broody in a pen where she can be comfortable and make sure she has plenty of food and water. Three days in the pen and broody cycle is broken. In the ten years we've had chickens, this has worked for us every time.