How to Break a Broody Hen

[nina1marc2]

The dog crate I have is for a medium size dog maybe 35lb. It can easy fit two hens but one hen very comfy and she can stand up and move around. I have a small water and feeder I used for when they were chicks that I can use to keep her healthy. She has always been the kind of hen that will wonder on her own but I do free range them in their outside yard while I am home. I will put her on the perch tonight and then start the broody process tomorrow again.

Thanks for the advice everyone. She is so stubborn. Way more than my easter egger.

 

[nina1marc2]

When I checked in her tonight she was still in the nest box. Not perched. Ugh. I removed her and put her in her crate with food, water, and a small perch to make her bottom be up in the air. That will be her home until I free range her with her friends tomorrow afternoon. Bless her heart. She is so stubborn. She is my sweetest girl too.

 

[StephanieC]

If you free range her make sure there is nothing she can turn into a nest. You have to keep her bottom side cool. If she can bed down into some leaves or even the ground, it will keep her underside warm and undo your efforts to break her mood.

I can relate to the stubborn part, my Orpy was like a woman possessed. As her mood began to break over a couple of days, I would let her free range only when I could watch her. If I couldn't watch her,make went back in the crate.

 

[aatx]

I've skimmed over a dozen threads on here and haven't come across my answer to this question. I'm sure it's there and I've just missed it.

After you break a broody, is it common for it to take awhile for them to start laying again?

 

[nina1marc2]

I've skimmed over a dozen threads on here and haven't come across my answer to this question.  I'm sure it's there and I've just missed it.

After you break a broody, is it common for it to take awhile for them to start laying again?

I have one hen that's broody right now. She is a silkie mix and so stubborn. I hope it doesn't take her a while. However, I had another hen a easter egger mix about two months ago go broody and she snapped out of it in three days. She didn't start laying again for 11days. It did take her a while. I think depends on the breed and how long they were broody.

 

[aatx]

I have one hen that's broody right now. She is a silkie mix and so stubborn. I hope it doesn't take her a while. However, I had another hen a easter egger mix about two months ago go broody and she snapped out of it in three days. She didn't start laying again for 11days. It did take her a while. I think depends on the breed and how long they were broody.

Thank you. I am pretty sure it has been 15 days now. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

I caught it quickly - the same day it started - and was able to intervene enough over a few hours in the evening and then stuck her on the roost that she didn't go back for the nest the next day. She laid that next day, but I am guessing that egg may have already been "in the works". I have three easter eggers that all lay the same color egg, so I can't tell for certain that she hasn't been laying, but I haven't had 3 blue eggs since then. (At least 75% of the time, we were getting three blue eggs per day.) As a side note, she did this 2 weeks after laying her first egg.

 

[nina1marc2]

Thank you.  I am pretty sure it has been 15 days now.  Hopefully it won't be much longer.

I caught it quickly - the same day it started - and was able to intervene enough over a few hours in the evening and then stuck her on the roost that she didn't go back for the nest the next day.  She laid that next day, but I am guessing that egg may have already been "in the works".  I have three easter eggers that all lay the same color egg, so I can't tell for certain that she hasn't been laying, but I haven't had 3 blue eggs since then.  (At least 75% of the time, we were getting three blue eggs per day.)  As a side note, she did this 2 weeks after laying her first egg.

It sounds about right on the time. I didn't catch hers right away until I notice her sleeping in the nesting box. Time frame would be close to 15 days.

I must say though my silkie is broody right now and still is laying her eggs. (She was sleeping in the nesting box instead of the perch with the other hens.) She hasn't stopped even though I removed her from the nesting box and I dunked her bottom in water to cool her bottom off. She was in the broody pen all day yesterday until I put her on the perch and she stayed there until this afternoon and she started the behavior again. Looks like I repeat the behavior again tonight and keep her in the broody box until she breaks. Stubborn animals.

 

[bruceha2000]

Thank you. I am pretty sure it has been 15 days now. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

I caught it quickly - the same day it started - and was able to intervene enough over a few hours in the evening and then stuck her on the roost that she didn't go back for the nest the next day. She laid that next day, but I am guessing that egg may have already been "in the works". I have three easter eggers that all lay the same color egg, so I can't tell for certain that she hasn't been laying, but I haven't had 3 blue eggs since then. (At least 75% of the time, we were getting three blue eggs per day.) As a side note, she did this 2 weeks after laying her first egg.

It varies with the bird. 15 days does seem a long time since she wasn't in "broody mood" even 24 hours. GENERALLY when one of mine goes broody and I catch it right off, they break in the broody buster in a day or two. If I catch them fast, it is usually 5 to 7 days before they lay again. But if I'm not sure and I let them have a day (you know those eggs don't just pop out the minute they go in the nest box) it can take even 5 to 7 days AND NIGHTS in the box and getting an egg even a week after they break is unlikely.

You can let them out in the morning to see how they act and stuff them right back in if they head for the nest. If they are "clucky" don't even bother letting them out. My most recent broody is a Cubalaya. She actually laid an egg almost every other day for a week, took a week off then did it again then went broody

for the 4th time this year. She moulted late August so "production" has been pretty bad since spring even for a "2 maybe 3 eggs a week" breed. I gave her a day, then put her in the box the next day and left her for the night. Let her out the next morning and she went for the nest as soon as their morning BOSS was gone. I tried to scoop her out if the nest but those little birds are FAST. I puttered around the barn and she went back in. Tried to scoop her out and she took off. Did I mention they are FAST? Finally caught her the third time and put her in the box for 2 days and nights. I let her out the next morning, she was still kind of puffy and irritable but seemed to get over it and has stayed out of the nests since.

My broody buster is a 12"x24"x12" high box - simply a wooden frame with 1/2" hardware cloth on all sides and the bottom. It sits on the end of two parallel roosts 4' off the ground. Making sure there is air flow under them is presumed to be key. I'm not real sure about the dog crate just off the floor being close to ideal. I had add wires to hold the 1 pint food and water things to the wall because they get kinda rowdy in there wanting out and knocked them over. Also, (not surprisingly) breaking them usually works faster when the weather is cool or cold than in the heat of summer.

I feel REALLY sorry

for you people with birds that have gone broody only a few weeks after they lay their first egg. None of mine did until they were about a year old (spring).

 

[aatx]

I've skimmed over a dozen threads on here and haven't come across my answer to this question. I'm sure it's there and I've just missed it.

After you break a broody, is it common for it to take awhile for them to start laying again?

Thank you. I am pretty sure it has been 15 days now. Hopefully it won't be much longer.

I caught it quickly - the same day it started - and was able to intervene enough over a few hours in the evening and then stuck her on the roost that she didn't go back for the nest the next day. She laid that next day, but I am guessing that egg may have already been "in the works". I have three easter eggers that all lay the same color egg, so I can't tell for certain that she hasn't been laying, but I haven't had 3 blue eggs since then. (At least 75% of the time, we were getting three blue eggs per day.) As a side note, she did this 2 weeks after laying her first egg.

Update - It took 27 days for her to lay again. Poor girl - this egg was so much wider than the last one she laid. She was normally 1.0 - 1.1 ounces and this one was 1.3 ounces. Doesn't sound like a lot, but that's almost 20% larger.

 

[angelfishfan]

Thanks for posting this info. I am a rather new flock owner and have encountered my first broody lady. I thought I might be able to have her hatch some other fertile eggs of mine, but she doesnt consistently sit in the same nest. She is always in a nest box, but a different one from time to time. I have been using a bunny hutch with bedding as additional nesting space, looks like im clearing the straw out and sticking her in therenfor a few days.