How to Break a Broody Hen

[Little Fuzzy]

I'm in the same boat with my 10 month old Blue Wy. She had only been laying eggs for two weeks. Now she has been on the broody nest for three weeks. She is sitting on fake eggs and my Silkie likes to nest with her and leave her eggs for her. I thought I could just wait until she figures out the fake egg is not going to hatch. But I guess I will try your nighttime putting her on the roost method. I don't really want to hassle with a wire cage. I have been taking her off the nest once a day for food and water. Today I have locked her out of the run, but what an attitude!

 

[MichelleObenaus]

My girl is at it again as well! This time around I "let nature take it's course" and let her brood. I too took her out 1-2x/day for food and water. Hot days were a concern, but we'd just open the brooder to cool it and give her fresh air. After 3, yes 3 weeks, she was out with her flock, running around. But, yes, the attitude was very real anytime we removed an egg or took her out of the box! Man, if she could talk!Best wishes with your girl. As the days warm, just be ware of the heat.

 

[dianeb423]

I tried the cool method that was suggested to me, Cooling their underneath in water for about 5-10 seconds But it hasn't worked and now not only do I have one broody but now I have 2. And sadly enough no eggs. When does it stop? I have no other ideas.

 

[bruceha2000]

I'm in the same boat with my 10 month old Blue Wy. She had only been laying eggs for two weeks. Now she has been on the broody nest for three weeks. She is sitting on fake eggs and my Silkie likes to nest with her and leave her eggs for her. I thought I could just wait until she figures out the fake egg is not going to hatch. But I guess I will try your nighttime putting her on the roost method. I don't really want to hassle with a wire cage. I have been taking her off the nest once a day for food and water. Today I have locked her out of the run, but what an attitude!

My money is she will be back in the nest before you get 3 feet from the coop after putting her on the roost.

My girl is at it again as well! This time around I "let nature take it's course" and let her brood. I too took her out 1-2x/day for food and water. Hot days were a concern, but we'd just open the brooder to cool it and give her fresh air. After 3, yes 3 weeks, she was out with her flock, running around. But, yes, the attitude was very real anytime we removed an egg or took her out of the box! Man, if she could talk!Best wishes with your girl. As the days warm, just be ware of the heat.

I would say you got lucky. I've not read many instances where a broody broke herself when she had the opportunity to sit in a nest pretty much 24x7.

I tried the cool method that was suggested to me, Cooling their underneath in water for about 5-10 seconds But it hasn't worked and now not only do I have one broody but now I have 2. And sadly enough no eggs. When does it stop? I have no other ideas.

I did not have success with the "water bath" method the one time I tried it. Nor did I have success when I put a refreezable ice pack under a broody and replaced it with another when she thawed the first. She was a furnace when she thawed the second and I picked her up to put her in the buster. A wire cage a couple of feet off the ground with good airflow has proven to be the historically successful method.

 

[Kimbolini]

@KrisCVT
I think you partially answered your own question.

The bird damaged herself trying to get back to an empty nest. It is hormones talking, not thought.

In my experience, a broody hen with nothing to hatch will sit on the nest day and night for weeks, even more than the 21 days it takes to hatch chicks. They won't voluntarily come off to eat or drink. You can throw them out and they will eat a little, drink a little then start with the "broody cluck" and race right back to the box. They will "happily" starve themselves NOT hatching a darned thing if you don't throw them out. Some people think it is cruel to cage a broody to break her but I think the opposite. It is cruel to let them sit for weeks for no purpose, not eating enough or drinking enough for their needs. Now, if you have a broody and get some chicks, you can have the broody raise them. Then the broodiness serves a purpose. The "hatching" hormones drop when the chicks "hatch" or the hen can't stay hot. I had one that once melted not 1 but 2 freezer packs in series in the nest and was still HOT underneath. If they stay in the nest the hormones won't subside.

If you make a wire cage (mine is 1/2" hardware cloth on all sides, top and bottom) and have it off the ground, the hen can't stay hot underneath and the hormones will subside. Yes they will be fussy when you first put them in but when they see the food and water, they will make use of them. And yes they will pace back and forth doing the broody cluck. But they are safe and have food and water they will eat and drink because they are NOT on a nest. My girls, depending on how long I've waited to see if they are broody or working on an egg (since that can take hours), breaking takes 3 to 5 days and they likely won't lay an egg for about 5 to 7 days after they break. My regular broodies know where they are going when I approach the nest and will scream at me.

A typical BROODING hen (according to someone I know who has had hens hatching chicks for years) will glue to the nest for ~3 days when she decides she has a big enough clutch, then will get off daily to eat, drink, poop, then go back to the nest. The last 3 days are the same as the first 3, glued to the nest. That is the difference between a hen hatching eggs and one that has nothing to hatch; the former takes care of her needs, the latter will not.

This is a really old post, so I've quoted it above. I have a hen that is obviously broody, and has not laid any eggs to brood. My question is - is it okay to slip some fertilized eggs under her and hope that she'll raise them? I think she's been broody for about 9 days now, and hasn't laid a single egg, but I have other hens and a rooster so I could make use of this. Any help is appreciated!

Oh, she is an Ameraucana and in her first season.

 

[WVduckchick]

This is a really old post, so I've quoted it above.  I have a hen that is obviously broody, and has not laid any eggs to brood.  My question is - is it okay to slip some fertilized eggs under her and hope that she'll raise them? I think she's been broody for about 9 days now, and hasn't laid a single egg, but I have other hens and a rooster so I could make use of this.  Any help is appreciated!

Oh, she is an Ameraucana and in her first season.

Yes! Many broody hens are given eggs that aren't their own and do fine. But...you may want to have an alternative plan if she abandons them before they are done (since she has already been broody for 9 days). Others may have more comments, but the easy answer is yes, you can put other eggs under her.

 

[bruceha2000]

Quote:
If she is sticking to the nest, yes. They don't care (or know) if they laid the eggs they are sitting on. In fact I have often read here on BYC of hens STEALING eggs from other nests to put in her own. "All eggs be mine!"

Incubation is 21 days.

@Beekissed posted (IIRC) "normal brooding hen" behavior to be something along the line of:

• glued to the nest for 3 days once she decides to start the incubation period
• will get off the nest daily to eat drink and "deposit" that STINKY broody poop
• glued to the nest for last 3 days

So DON'T be nervous if she gets off the nest for short periods of time after the first 3 days. In contrast, a hen with nothing to hatch generally won't get off the nest for anything. I can only imagine there is something built in that tells them the temp has to be constant to get the eggs started and once they are "cooking" they can be left for a short while so the hen can attend to her own needs.

 

[LJ33]

After I noticed one of my BO's in the next for 3-4 days, I found this thread. First pic below is from last night after I got her out of the nesting box and locked outside for a few, while I set up her wire cage. She had been poofing out like this periodically for a couple weeks. I had no idea what is was about until this thread. now I know what to look for in the future.




Here she is in her jail cell....question I have is, is the location ok bc she can see the nesting box? This was the safest place in terms of coyotes not getting her at night. I guess my only other option is the garage or my mud room. I checked on her this morning and she was poofed out like crazy. She could see one of the legghorns in the nesting box.

 

[Kimbolini]

Update on my little Ameraucana -

She didn't have any of her own eggs under her, so I did put a couple of (hopefully) fertilized eggs there, however after she got off the nest to have something to eat and got back up to brood, she didn't go to the same nesting box. So, I've determined that she's just crazy and won't be able to finish a hatch anyway, so am now trying to break her. I took her out a few times and put her in the enclosure with the rest of the flock, but she went straight back. Today I've taken her out of the pen altogether and put her with the flock as they are out free-ranging around the yard. She was spooky with the others, but didn't go back even after about an hour, so hopefully she is breaking this. If I'm not going to get some chicks from her, I want her eggs!

Aren't they funny.

 

[bruceha2000]

After I noticed one of my BO's in the next for 3-4 days, I found this thread. First pic below is from last night after I got her out of the nesting box and locked outside for a few, while I set up her wire cage. She had been poofing out like this periodically for a couple weeks. I had no idea what is was about until this thread. now I know what to look for in the future.




Here she is in her jail cell....question I have is, is the location ok bc she can see the nesting box? This was the safest place in terms of coyotes not getting her at night. I guess my only other option is the garage or my mud room. I checked on her this morning and she was poofed out like crazy. She could see one of the legghorns in the nesting box.

Perfect. I think it is the combination of hormones that say "MUST HATCH SOMETHING" and the ability to stay hot underneath that keeps them broody. I don't know how to get rid of the hormones directly so removing the ability to stay hot seems to be the path.

Your mentioning her "poofing" matches what I see in some of my hens. Almost like a "tick" as Dr. Jekyll turns into Mrs Hyde.