How long away before flock mates need reintroductions?

[squishychicky]

I have a broody I need to break, but my usual set up is in use, so I need to put her elsewhere out of sight of the rest of the flock.
How long can I keep her away before they will forget her and I'll need to reintroduce. My flock can be a bit mean to Newbies!

 

[ShannonR]

In my experience, like a day. That's why "time outs" can be so effective (temporarily) with the problem chickens!!
Seriously tho, the longer they are away, the worse the reunion will go.

 

[Pork Pie]

Forgetting her is very unlikely, assuming you keep her isolated only for sufficient time to break her broodiness (up to around 5-7 days in my experience). I used to have a serial broody and she would have an altercation with one particular pullet that seemed to fancy her chances at moving up the pecking order when I returned her to the flock each time. The altercation would be over in 5 seconds and everything was back to normal.

 

[ChickNanny13]

Could you get a wire cage to use as a Broody Breaker, it could go in the coop?

 

[squishychicky]

Thanks. We ended up kicking the dog out of her crate and have set that up in the coop. Broody is seriously pd off, she is right next to the best box but can't get to it.
We tried to set her up outside but we're in the middle of a wind storm here and I felt too sorry for her!
We have previously time outed a head chook, and even after a week she was still head chook, so wasn't sure.

 

[aart]

Duration of isolation and it's effects can vary greatly....depends on bird and flock dynamics.

Aww, poor pup...or maybe pup is glad to be 'out of jail'?

Might be time to get another crate, I've found them to be very handy and got them pretty cheap at flea markets.

I've found putting breaker crate out of sight of nests to be good, but weather may interfere for sure. Actually I learned this by having to put crate out in yard in the shade during a heat wave, was too hot in coop and run.

Another way to keep her acclimated to the flock is to block nests late in day and let her out of crate to be with flock. If she's still acting broody I take her off roost after dark (when I also open nests back up), or out of nest in morning, and back into the crate for another round.

 

[squishychicky]

Dog is not impressed, she's almost 14 and the crate was never locked, we crate trained her as a baby, she has 3 other beds so she'll live
My other concern with the broody being outside is that dog crates aren't rat proof.
We have a small rabbit hutch that we would usually use, within a temporary run, but it's currently occupied by our previous broody and her chicks.

 

[aart]

Dog is not impressed, she's almost 14 and the crate was never locked, we crate trained her as a baby, she has 3 other beds so she'll live
My other concern with the broody being outside is that dog crates aren't rat proof.
We have a small rabbit hutch that we would usually use, within a temporary run, but it's currently occupied by our previous broody and her chicks.

Ah, poor old girl....my old boy(12+)was confounded when I switched him to the floor instead of my tall bed that he couldn't safely jump up and down from anymore..he adjusted.

You could put the breaker crate in the coop at night ...or rats in coop too?
How old are broodies chicks...maybe time to intro them to the flock?

 

[squishychicky]

Coop is rat proof, that might work!

Little ones are 3 weeks, they need to get a little bit bigger, not long though.

Broody managed to break out of the cage last night! Will have to tie it shut. Do you think blocking her view of the nest would help, or are they smarter than that?

 

[aart]

Little ones are 3 weeks, they need to get a little bit bigger, not long though.

Broody managed to break out of the cage last night! Will have to tie it shut. Do you think blocking her view of the nest would help, or are they smarter than that?

Eh, I think the chicks and broody are best introduced within a couple weeks, broody is still fierce and chicks are still little and able to get away easier if needed. But I keep broody within sight of flock in a floor nest area behind wire while setting and have a creep feeder area for chicks to eat and drink in peace after wire comes down.

Blocking sight of nest might help.

Funny, I found a pullet in nest this evening when locking up.....been feathers in nest for a week...she was not happy when I pulled her out and put her on roost. May have to pull out my broody breaker crate tomorrow.