How to Break a Broody Hen

[bobbieschicks]

Well Bunny is out and about with everyone today and not broody clucking. Time will tell if she's really broke. She's my hardest one to break.

It was a good call moving Smokey to he broody cage as she was definitely broody, judging by the smell and size of the poo she dropped. She's still in there this morning. I don't like her hunkered down look, it still screams broody to me. So until she's more upright, she will stay put.

 

[bobbieschicks]

Yeah! Just two days each and my broodies were both broke. I think they'll be back to laying here shortly. So much nicer than trying to figure out what to do with excess chicks. Glad I tried the broody cage. I'm going to hang onto this monstrous thing since its working so good.

 

[beeconeofhope]

I have a few question if you dont mind answering some please

first : will a hen go broody without a rooster being around ?

second :if a rouge rooster finds it's way from next door would it "hit it and quit it" or would it be more likely to hang around an claim it's "booty"?

third: how can I tell if the eggs are fertile so i may tell if the brodiness is placebo or real?

Thanks so much for you help I look forward to hearing from you

 

[bobbieschicks]

I have a few question if you dont mind answering some please

first : will a hen go broody without a rooster being around ?

second :if a rouge rooster finds it's way from next door would it "hit it and quit it" or would it be more likely to hang around an claim it's "booty"?

third: how can I tell if the eggs are fertile so i may tell if the brodiness is placebo or real?

Thanks so much for you help I look forward to hearing from you e

Yes a hen can go broody without a rooster around. But the eggs would not be fertile so they would never hatch. I've had a hen sit on ping pong balls for weeks until I took pity and gave her some chicks to brood.

A rouge rooster would likely stay to take over the flock. After all the work he would have to do to even get close enough to a hen to "hit it" he'd definitely stick around. My girls fought pretty hard before the roosters were able to finally mate them and some never were mated because they were too fast.

If you have a rooster that is mating the hens, the eggs are more than likely fertile. You can break open one and look for the bullseye white dot with outer white circle.

Broodiness doesn't depend on whether the eggs are fertilized, but hatching would definitely depend on that.

The best way to know if she's broody is if she's sitting in the nest and not roosting at night, stopped laying, and puffs up when you even think about touching her eggs.

 

[beeconeofhope]

Thanks so much. you are awesome ! you confirmed what I already thought to be true . She is brooding for sure ,she sleeps in the nest and i can pet her a few times but she growls and puffs up and i am sure if i didnt stop she would peck me, lucky for me she has always had a gentle nature , today the other hen fought her till she got up out of the nest " out of all the nest i have apparently only one is good enough for 4 of my 7 hens" .But i waited for that hen to finish laying and as soon as she left my broody one was making a beeline for the coop but i beat her there and stole the eggs and as i was walking away with the eggs she seemed to see them in the wire basket and she walked towards me a puffed up lol "poor thing' and tonight i checked and she is still in the nest and seems to have a lump of bedding she is now trying to hatch

so because i do not need any more chicks i dont wanna get fertile eggs for her to hatch but i also dont want to discourage her from her natural instincts so now i am wondering if she will just stop brooding after a while on her own and i can just steal the eggs or do i need to break her ?

ohhhh tell me all knowing chicken master pleaseeee

 

[bobbieschicks]

Thanks so much. you are awesome !  you confirmed what I already thought to be true . She is brooding for sure ,she sleeps in the nest and i can pet her a few times but she growls and puffs up and i am sure if i didnt stop she would peck me, lucky for me she has always had a gentle nature , today the other hen fought her till she got up out of the nest " out of all the nest i have apparently only one is good enough for 4 of my 7 hens" .But i waited for that hen to finish laying and as soon as she left my broody one was making a beeline for the coop but i beat her there and stole the eggs and as i was walking away with the eggs she seemed to see them in the wire basket and she walked towards me a puffed up lol "poor thing' and tonight i checked and she is still in the nest and seems to have a lump of bedding she is now trying to hatch so because i do not need any more chicks i dont wanna get fertile eggs for her to hatch but i also dont want to discourage her from her natural instincts so now i am wondering if she will just stop brooding after a while on her own and i can just steal the eggs or do i need to break her ? ohhhh tell me all knowing chicken master pleaseeee

 

The chicken below, a Maran called Bunny, sat for 46 days= at the end it was 25 days on eggs that didn't hatch, before that 14 days on eggs that she ruined, and the remaining time before that on air because I didn't leave eggs in the nest. My broody silky Topsy sat on air for 23 days before I finally let her hatch 4 of her own eggs. Removing the eggs might break her, but if she's determined I doubt it would work.

Here's what worked for me, two days or so in a raised wire cage=broodiness done. Dunking in ice water=nice cool bath for broody who went right back to nest and my hand felt like it would fall off.

And I don't believe she will loose the broody instinct this way, but time will tell with my girls. I broke Topsy once from sitting by simply removing her and eggs from the nest repeatedly. She went back to broody a couple of weeks later.

 

[aldarita]

My 15 month old barred rock Silvia got broody the day before yesterday, I put her in a broody breaker yesterday for part of the afternoon, then I took her out and moved her to the run with the others. She took a dust bath and ate a little, most of the time she groomed. It was close to roosting time so when I left she was still out of he coop. This morning I found her in the nesting box so I put her back in the broody breaker. My problem is that it is so hot right now (95F) and eventhough I put a fan to blow air on her, it is just blowing hot air and it might not be helping to break the broodiness.
I moved the broody breaker and Silvia into a room where I keep all my chicken stuff and put one of those AC that blow cold air to a specific area, it works like a fan but it blows cold air. What I don't like about this set up is that she is completely by herself but it is the only way I can keep her cool.
I have been successful before breaking a broody pullet but it was back in the spring when we still have cool nights and she was always on sight with the others.
How bad could it be for her to be by herself for two or three days?
I am very tempted to get her out during the day and watch that she does not get in the coop straight to the nesting box but I have read that it just makes the process longer.
I don't have a rooster and with this heat I just cannot let any of my hens get broody since it gets extremely hot in the coop. I have fans blowing on it, I have insulated it the best I can and it is shaded, still the temps inside in the afternoons get into the mid 90s.
Any recommendations you can give will be very well appreciated.

 

[aldarita]

After I posted my previous post, I did a little reading on this thread and got the impression that it is not so much about cooling them to break the broodiness but to segregate them and keep them out of the nesting box. Do you have any opinion either way for breaking the broody hens?
I know each case is different and chickens are some how unpredictable but I just wonder if I should move my broody breaker with my broody hen to the area where I had her where she can see all the rest of the flock or leave her in the room where she is right now with the cool air blowing on her.
I have read previous posts in different threads and was under the impression that it is all about cooling to break them.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think it's a combination of factors, and the more you can make it the opposite of broody conditions the better the effect. Being up off the nest, on a wire floor with no bedding, where there is bright light (but not direct hot sunlight), and plenty of other chicken company should all help change a broody's mood. I agree, it isn't so crucial to have cold air blowing on the bird, all the air they feel underneath will be a change from nestling snug over eggs & straw and be adequate for this purpose. I think it would be better to have her where it's bright & noisy but warm than isolated, dim, but cold.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I think it's a combination of factors, and the more you can make it the opposite of broody conditions the better the effect. Being up off the nest, on a wire floor with no bedding, where there is bright light (but not direct hot sunlight), and plenty of other chicken company should all help change a broody's mood. I agree, it isn't so crucial to have cold air blowing on the bird, all the air they feel underneath will be a change from nestling snug over eggs & straw and be adequate for this purpose. I think it would be better to have her where it's bright & noisy but warm than isolated, dim, but cold.