How to Break a Broody Hen

[fishnet1971]

i ahve been fighting a 'broody momma' for about three weeks now. did the take off the nest every chance i got and put her outside, locked her out of the coop during the day, etc. i finally gave up.

my cure to breakind a broody hen?

I let her have 2 eggs and she's 'sitting pretty'. I really dont need to more chix!!!!! but what 'cha gonna do?

 

[jndorsey]

Quote:
That's how my fayoumi is. She'll go broody for a few days, maybe a week with us removing the eggs from her every day. After about a week or so she must get tired of it because soon you see her back out with the other girls. Someone told me it's not hormones, but 'voices' that make them go broody. After seeing the HUGE personality change when she goes broody I must admit that's probably true. We ought to call her Sybil.

 

[eds500]

I've got my first broody hen. I didn't realize that she was until yesterday when she was just sitting on the nest at 5pm and then I found her again on the nest this morning. I don't have wire cage so I'll keep moving her for a few days and if that doesn't work, then I'll consider a cage. I've got two I think are molting and one that is broody, so I've got only 2 hens laying. 60% of my usual production off is hurting the egg count.

 

[tom44]

hi everyone, thanks for all the info on broodiness , my hen has been broody for about 30 days now and im fearing she may be going into bad health , ive made a cage from an old fire guard and im going to try her in that for a couple of days tomorrow,and see how she does .i have food and water clipped onto it already so she cant knock it over (well in theory).i hope she breaks in a couple of days . ill let you know . thanks again tom . . . .

more gaze up and admire the stars , a champion climbs a mountain and grabs one . . . . .

 

[jndorsey]

Tom - if she's been broody that long, a couple of days probably won't do the trick. You may need to look at five days or so.. Poor little thing, I know it's the voices in her head making her do this. I'm fortunate, my broody doesn't usually stay that way long enough to create serious health implications. Let us know how it goes. -- Jenni

 

[luvinmychickens]

The best way to tell a hen has gone broody is when she wants to stay in her nest spot at night instead of going up to the roost to sleep. She'll puff her feathers out, flatten her body over the eggs, growl or shriek if disturbed, and often peck or bite any hand that dares come close. She may be setting on real eggs, fake eggs, golf balls, or imaginary eggs, it doesn't matter, they're important to her.

That is what my hen does! She has been in there for 2 - 3 weeks. She is very determined. Unforunately, I can't let her go broody, or else we will give her to another person. We aren't aloud any more hens. We have our limit.

I am going to try that! Hopefully it works. I have faith in it.

Thanks for the info!​

 

[Mendin Fences]

One of my 2 hens (I only have 2 chickens) has been broody for over 35 days. I take her out of the nest every day and lock her out and she eats and drinks with her buddy. However, she has lost a lot of feathers from underneath, she looks fine until you flip her over! Should I take her to a vet, or should I just keep waiting? Someone gave me a card for a free vet appointment at a place that specializes in birds & exotics, so it wouldn't cost me anything to take her in.. I just don't want to waste it on this if there's nothing wrong with her.

 

[mirsy09]

:/If you have a dog crate or something else to put her in do that instead. I just take them right away from the nest they want to sit on for a coupe of weeks and thn put her back.

 

[jndorsey]

Quote:
Agreed! You've got to get them off the nest and off the ground so air gets to their belly. No idea why, just know it's what works. If they've been brooding long enough to have lost a good number of feathers off their bellies, then it will likely take more than a couple of days in the cage. I had to leave the Sybil bird in the cage for six days once -- and she'd only been brooding for a week or so. At some point their health will start to deteriorate if you don't break them.

Keep the faith and good luck! Let us know how it works out!

JD

 

[luvinmychickens]

I only had mine in the wire floor cage for 7 hours? And shes not broody anymore!!!