How long take care of broody hens, in general?

[ChillinVillain]

Hi, recently my flock has increased to about 25 bantam silkies and I'm curious about all the broody hens I'm dealing with. For the past 5 years I haven't had much problems breaking broody hens but recently after introducing 12 new birds (10 chicks + mom & dad) to my flock some of the other birds have been broody for 2 weeks or more. I don't want them hatching eggs so my question is: when is a good time to break the broodiness? On the first day they lay the egg(s) or does it matter?

 

[Mylied]

Hi, recently my flock has increased to about 25 bantam silkies and I'm curious about all the broody hens I'm dealing with. For the past 5 years I haven't had much problems breaking broody hens but recently after introducing 12 new birds (10 chicks + mom & dad) to my flock some of the other birds have been broody for 2 weeks or more. I don't want them hatching eggs so my question is: when is a good time to break the broodiness? On the first day they lay the egg(s) or does it matter?

Why'd you get 25 silkies if you don't want them to hatch eggs. That's pretty much their life. You break them and 2 days later they'll be broody again.

 

[Chicalina]

break it as soon as you can early on before the hormone levels rise to maximum. Make sure you collect eggs every day and several times a day so nobody has a chance to sit on any for long. Keep the broodies out of the nest boxes completely if you can.

wow, 25 silkies! You are going to be on constant broodie watch, lol.

Mine give up after 2 or 3 days if I do the above, or not if I actually want them to brood.

 

[Mamatomany123]

Well, you got a lot off birds that are known for being broody. With that many silkie you're going to have a broody constantly

 

[rosemarythyme]

Sooner you break them the faster it goes, generally. Once they've sat a while it's tougher to get them out of that brooding mindset.

 

[aart]

Might gonna need a whole row of breaker crates:

 

[ChillinVillain]

Thanks for all the replies. My broody hens finally broke. I'm going to be more diligent when I want to break the broodiness. Normally I just carry the broody hen outside in the morning. Now when they jump back into the nest I can put them in separate space outside where they can't get to the nest. And I have cages they can go in at night.