How to Break a Broody Hen

[Blackcrest]

I feel so bad.. i had a broody hen and I came here to find answers, and i tried the wire bottem cage( please note i am new to the chicken pet raising ) And I left her in there for 5 days... took her out to let her run with my other birds.. first thing she did was sit on a nest and didn't get up.. I asked on face book what to do and called the local chicken boy.. ( kids has like 80 birds) and two folks told me to take my bird hold on on her back and dip her under the water and pull her out.. ( DO NOT DO THIS) yes it stopped her being broody. But for the past month and half she been sneezing and wheezing. and I'm really worried about her, she my favorite bird. Being low on monies at this time I can't buy the bird meds.. so i tried making oat meal and mix red pepper with it, and add a little apple cider and apple juice to her water... Am I even on the right track any more?

 

[happyhappy]

Don't feel bad you where doing what you thought an "expert" would do. I have had one of my Astrolorps go broody twice a year for three years, she's almost broken me and she's the most skidish!

I would make sure he is dry and comfortable, if you have to bring her inside or the garage, I have vitamins if you would like I can send some to you?

But what you are doing sounds good. You could feed her some cooked eggs also! Protein, Make sure she has water and no drafts when she is on the roost at night if you need to put a light down low for her to hudle under during the day! Good luck and next time she goes broody put her inside the coop in a cage and put ice cubes under her belly that will break the cycle, 5 days should do it or else she'll figure it out herself if you keep taking away all the eggs!

 

[Sally8]

This past summer we had a Barred Rock go broody. It didn't matter what we did, she'd find her way back to her nest. I would have let her hatch her eggs but she would peck holes in all of them. I even bought her 2 doz fertile eggs over 3 - 4 weeks. She pecked them all. I'm not sure what finally broke the cycle for her but within 2 weeks after she died. This all happened through the hottest part of last summer and we were also plagued with mites. I still feel horrible.

 

[aldarita]

It will be better if you can keep her with the rest of the hens, do you have room in the coop for the rabbit cage? I have read that hens get stressed when you isolete them. If the see the rest of the flock, they are better. If you don't have enough space in the coop for her cage, I guess the garage will have to do. I have read the other posts about this topic and people have done just that, then if you read about caring for your flock in the winter, they seem to do fine at temperatures in the 20's Hopefully she will only need to be out for three nights. Please let us know how you do. I wish I had read your post earlier and answer right away (been away from my computer). Best of luck!!!

 

[aldarita]

Sunny Side Up, my GLW has been broody for about 12 days. We don't have roosters and don't want to try for chicks in the winter. She isn't eating much and it feels like she might be losing weight. Ugh. I wish I'd read your post 9 days ago. . . so my question is if I put her in a rabbit hutch in the garage, do I need to add heat/light since she will be alone? It's in the 40's to low 50's during the day but drops into the low 30's to upper 20's at night. Oh yea, the garage is not heated.

I think sunny side up should do well in your garage, hopefully there are not drafts in there so even if it gets in the 20's she will be all right. I covered Ms Queeny's cage at night to help her stay warm. By the way Ms Queeny is laying eggs again and I am so very happy for her.

 

[carolinasculpture]

Hi! My 2 cents: with my broody hens, I found that if I put them in a rabbit cage during the day, in my run, there is a shelter in which I have a rabbit cage just for this purpose. It is sheltered from wind, rain and sun and has a chick feeder and a mayonnaise nipple waterer. Anyway, I leave the hen in there until around 3 in the afternoon since all my other hens have usually laid by then. At this point, I cover the nest boxes so she can't get into them and let her out of the cage. I have found that they usually run for the coop and then discover they can't get to the nest box and come out to forage with their buddies. Then at night she go up and roost with everyone else. Especially in cold weather, just roosting with everyone else usually breaks then in about 3 days, they are still in contact with the rest of the flock and they don't seem to loose as much weight because of the "forced forage" time each afternoon. I hope this helps! Good luck! Oh, if you can't put your rabbit cage in the run, I'd just release her into the run with nest boxes covered when you can. Of course I have to get down there pretty early in the am to uncover the boxes, some days I have one or two pacing by the time I get there!

 

[aldarita]

Hi! My 2 cents: with my broody hens, I found that if I put them in a rabbit cage during the day, in my run, there is a shelter in which I have a rabbit cage just for this purpose. It is sheltered from wind, rain and sun and has a chick feeder and a mayonnaise nipple waterer. Anyway, I leave the hen in there until around 3 in the afternoon since all my other hens have usually laid by then. At this point, I cover the nest boxes so she can't get into them and let her out of the cage. I have found that they usually run for the coop and then discover they can't get to the nest box and come out to forage with their buddies. Then at night she go up and roost with everyone else. Especially in cold weather, just roosting with everyone else usually breaks then in about 3 days, they are still in contact with the rest of the flock and they don't seem to loose as much weight because of the "forced forage" time each afternoon. I hope this helps! Good luck! Oh, if you can't put your rabbit cage in the run, I'd just release her into the run with nest boxes covered when you can. Of course I have to get down there pretty early in the am to uncover the boxes, some days I have one or two pacing by the time I get there!

It is such a great idea! I hated to leave my hen in the cage all day and night. Covering the nests after they are finished laying and let the broody hen roost at night with the rest of the flock makes sense to me. Of course we will have to be there at the first ray of light to open the nests for the girls. Thanks for the input.

 

[JKRopee]

When I got home from work today, my broody hen was looking pretty feeble, she did not eat (for 2 days now) and had turned over the water dish. She just look so sad and depressed that I very quickly moved her to the area where they usually free-range and let her forage with her sisters. She perked right up and ate pretty well, tonight she is in the coop. I have decided to just let her be broody and hope Mother Nature is kind to her. My work schedule doesn't allow me to come home during the day to change things around, so I just have to trust 'the process.' I'm going to supplement her diet with oatmeal and watermelon chunks (her favorite) and hope for the best.

I like the idea of removing access to the nest boxes overnight and will start that tomorrow night! Maybe I can help Mother Nature, just a smidge!

 

[JKRopee]

Aldarita, My coop is tiny and doesn't have room inside. My broody hen was not in great shape when I got home from work today, so changed my plans and put her back in the free-range area with her sisters. She perked up immediately, eating, foraging and drinking water. When they went into the coop for the night, she immediately went into one of the nest boxes. But, I've decided not to fight it, at least tonight. It's more important to me (and her, I think) to eat and drink water. However, I like the idea of covering up the boxes at night, so that she has to roost with the others and maybe that will help, eventually. Thanks for getting back to me!! I'll keep you posted on how things work out!

 

[aldarita]

Aldarita, My coop is tiny and doesn't have room inside. My broody hen was not in great shape when I got home from work today, so changed my plans and put her back in the free-range area with her sisters. She perked up immediately, eating, foraging and drinking water. When they went into the coop for the night, she immediately went into one of the nest boxes. But, I've decided not to fight it, at least tonight. It's more important to me (and her, I think) to eat and drink water. However, I like the idea of covering up the boxes at night, so that she has to roost with the others and maybe that will help, eventually. Thanks for getting back to me!! I'll keep you posted on how things work out!

I agree with you, the important thing is for her to eat and drink and I think it is a great idea to cover the nest boxes at night and force them to roost with the others. I am planning to do just that next time one of my girls gets broody. Good luck and let us know how it goes.