How do I make my hen stop being broody?

[Bantina15]

I have a hen called Bantina and she gets broody in spring. Last year we let her have 6 chicks because we only had 2 chickens and luckily they were all girls so we didn't have to get rid of any roosters.

A chicken breeder told us to put her in a seperate cage without water for two days and food for three days but I can't bear putting her in a cage like that. She'd hate it.

We've tried putting her in cold bucket of water and submerging her chest with the same routine as your meant to. Both times she's just struggled and it hasn't worked because she dries her feathers after wards.

Are there any other solutions that don't involve putting Bantina in a seperate pen?

 

[jaclyncarneal]

Not positive how well it will work but the farmer i get my chickens from said if you take the egg as soon as they lay after a week or 2 they stop. Though that means you have to be on chicken watch all day because you cant let them brood even for 5 minutes.

 

[aart]

Put her in a cage but do NOT withhold feed or water.
No, she won't like it, but tough...she'll adjust.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[lazy gardener]

Yep, I'd never consider with holding water. That could be a death sentence. However there is a bit of science behind the farmer's recommendation. Such fasting would cause immediate loss of condition, which may be involved in shifting the hormone balance out of the broody state into self preservation mode. I broke my broody by confining her to a bare bones tractor during the day, and seeing to it that the nest boxes were blocked off at night. When I went out to feed in the morning, I'd open the boxes, she'd get a bite to eat, then scoot into her favorite box. I'd finish chores, scoop her up and toss her in the tractor with her feed and water for the day. I also gave her a non laying buddy to hang out with. Took about 4 days.

 

[Chickiemom25]

Not positive how well it will work but the farmer i get my chickens from said if you take the egg as soon as they lay after a week or 2 they stop. Though that means you have to be on chicken watch all day because you cant let them brood even for 5 minutes.

LOL that hasnt worked with my girl.. she is going on 3 months sitting in that box not laying a thing

 

[Hen Pen Jem]

In the case of broodiness, you are trying to stop an instinct driven by hormones as opposed to a learned behavior. Some breeds will never break, game hens, for example. However, the broodiness can be shortened with work on your part. With that said, the time it takes for the hen to return to egg laying may still be the same as if you hadn't intervened. After all - you are talking about changing the internal machine of reproduction. Weakening a hen by withholding food and water can also make them vulnerable to illness. It's too risky, best to get breeds that lay reliably like RR's, if eggs are a priority for you.
Otherwise, just make sure you collect all the eggs, twice a day if possible. Remove all fake eggs too. If you are home during the day, put the broody hen out in the run to eat and drink first thing in the morning, and in the afternoon, then,(If you free range) put her out to free range with the flock in the evening an hour or two before sundown. Don't let her back into the coop till all the rest of the girls are ready to go in. She will cry and run around in a hissy fit trying to get back in. In time her broody seasons may shorten.

 

[ChuSayBok]

After having no hens that would go broody to half my hens insisting on being broody at the same time; I started taking all their eggs and replacing them (at least one) with a store egg, or one I knew was a dud and wouldn't hatch. Since most of my hens prefer to lay on top of a hen that is setting, I would have to steal several a day from underneath the last one, CB, that insisted on going broody; it was 6 weeks or better before she finally gave up, and has just now gone back to normal, though she hasn't started laying again. So that's just my experience. All the rest I just let hatch up until that point.

 

[Kathy Golla]

The broody breaker works. I put mine in the garage so the hen cant see the coop. Definitely food and water. I get to her like the previous poster said, after 2 days of not wanting to leave the nest box and being puffed up and screeching and the other chickens pecking on the hen. I dont let her out into any place with the hens, coop, anything. I might let her out of the crate to stretch her legs 3 xs a day (I have kids who will play with the hens). I wait three days and put her back. Reintroduction takes a little patience since the birds remember that hen is broody. But it works like a charm.

 

[Bantina15]

Bantina is so stubborn! It's been three weeks and she's taking longer break times but eventually she goes back to sit in the nest. I've started taking all the eggs of her and one of her broody daughters too. The broody daughter Gloria is mentioned in another thread. Gloria has just become broody yesterday.

Bantina is an OEG so she is a very broody breed. Thanks for all your help but I'm still not putting her in a cage. Bantina is starting to be normal again.

 

[nzchookhaven]

Does the cage have to be off the ground by any distance? (I am worried about rats and stoats). Or can it just be up enough to ventilate?