How to Break a Broody Hen

[tassiedevil]

broody's beget broody's. Dont let a broody hatch her own eggs. only hatch the eggs from your best non broody layer/s . Buy hens or hatching eggs from non broody stock. Make a mesh bottom wire cage keep off the ground (sit on bricks) and put them all into it. They need free take food and water, and shelter. Leave min 3 days. Jump on and remove that broody first night it is on the nest. They will go off quicker.

 

[nancie35us]

I have not gone through all 93 pages of comments, so forgive me if this question as been asked/answered already.

I recently had a hen go broody ...it was a buff that was just over a year old. I would physically remove her from the box and push her out the door of the coop into the run where I hoped she would partake of the treats, food and water that were out there. This was a daily occurance for 2-3 weeks. A second hen started going broody (another buff), and within a couple days, the first girl stopped being broody.

Yesterday, roughly a week since the first broody hen left off nesting, I found her face-down in the run, dead. It had been several hours since I had been out to check on them. All the other hens were (are) fine, there was no breach by any preditors...I have no idea what happened. All of the hens in this coop/run are just over a year old, have never had a rooster in with them, are somewhat bored as their run is not as large as I'm sure they'd prefer. I cannot free range them because my dog is not trained to leave birds alone (my Weimaraner got one little hen last summer and killed her). Their egg production has slacked off a bit since winter (they laid quite well through winter - no additional lighting - as they had not been old enough for their first true molt last fall). I have been assuming the drop in production was due to some stress.

I plan to build a larger coop/run later this year (time and money are currently going to other projects), so I hope to relieve some of their stress.

Now I am left to wonder if the hen that died was egg-bound, though I'm not familiar enough with this to know for sure. I typically go out to the coops/runs twice a day (morning and night) so don't always know what's going on with them. I'm worried that, now that a second hen is broody, that this may happen again. When I plucked her out of her nesting box, she just squatted down, laying on the floor of the coop, not actively trying to venture out into the run where I'd just spread out their evening treats.

Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated. This is my second flock; the first ones who are just over 2 years old are all doing quite well and have not ever been broody (EE's) (my barred rocks have not shown broody qualities either; they are the same age as the buffs).

Thank you!

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Strangely I had one of my broodies just die a few nights ago in the same manner. Mine was 5 years old and also had no signs. I don't think yours or mines death had anything to do with being broody and was probably something like heart failure which happens. Mine came off the nest a day before she died, yours was probably not feeling well either and that's why she stopped being broody.

 

[bruceha2000]

Without an autopsy, there is no way to know why those birds died. The second could have been age, my understanding is their normal lifespan is somewhere in the neighborhood of 5-8 years though they can live longer. The 1 Y/O? Was she eating after she stopped being broody? I can't really say if she stressed her heart or other organs by being broody so long and not eating enough. I had one hen that died 3 months shy of 2 years for no apparent reason. Fine at 8 AM dead, warm, pliable at 11 AM. She must have died just before I went down to the barn. She wasn't broody (at that point, she was a 3X a year broody) and had laid an egg the day before.

Someone I know had a hen that died mysteriously, the did do an autopsy and found a small piece of wire in her throat. She had not shown any signs of illness.

 

[dianeb423]

This is crazy. Mine are still broody 4 weeks later dispite all my efforts. And what additiudes I'm at a loss on how to break them of this.

 

[bruceha2000]

This is crazy. Mine are still broody 4 weeks later dispite all my efforts. And what additiudes I'm at a loss on how to break them of this.

What have you done other than the cool water bath thing a month ago? I tried that once, the hen just boiled the water off, didn't do a thing.

The ONLY things I have personally found to break them are:

• Give them chicks (a day or 3 or 4 old) to raise, slip them under the back of the hen when it is too dark to see
• Elevated in a wire cage - mine is 1/2" hardware cloth. NO bedding of any sort. Don't let them out for morning or evening snacks, give it to them in the broody buster box. Put a chick feeder and waterer in with her that are big enough for a several day supply of food and water so you don't have to try and refill them. Opening the door to do so will be quite an exercise unless you have someone to keep the bird in the cage or hold it. They will dance around and knock things over so wire them in. Or maybe make some sort of food and water things that you can fill from the outside. Don't let her out until she stops being clucky and starts sounding like her normal self.

 

[406Jen]

I'm about to start breaking my broody buff. it's been a week, and i just now have my hands on the kind of cage needed (borrowing a rabbit hutch from a friend.).

question: do i let her out to free range with the other two ladies in the evenings/during the day when we're home? or is this like a bit of a jail?

could someone explain to me, biologically, why not? I trust you, just am curious.

 

[dianeb423]

Thanks Bruce I didn't exactly do a wire cage but did put them in an area that is on a ventilated bottom. No bedding. N kick them out during the day. I guess your wired cage is next.
Thank you

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Thanks Bruce I didn't exactly do a wire cage but did put them in an area that is on a ventilated bottom. No bedding. N kick them out during the day. I guess your wired cage is next.
Thank you

You need the hen to be somewhere she can't sit down tight and continue to heat up, that's why a wire bottom crate is often necessary, and they should stay confined to it for 3-5 days depending on how long they have been broody. Catch the really early and it can take 2 days. Wetting them down or dunking them doesn't work.

 

[dianeb423]

Thanks. Off to get a wire crate