How to Break a Broody Hen

[Sunny Side Up]

Quote: That's difficult to say with any accuracy, because each hen's behavior will be different, depending on her own individual component of broody skills, and the little voices only she can hear in her head. Some hens are just easier to discourage from broodiness than others. I wouldn't let them stay on a nest, even if they're only incubating imaginary eggs. I think that a lengthy stay on a nest, much longer than the 3 weeks nature intends, could adversely affect a hen's health. Even though I've had hens set for 6-7 weeks when their first clutch failed to hatch, I don't think it's ideal nor recommended.

The Broody Buster seems to work by changing the hen's location, removing any nesting material on which to set, keeping her in a well-lit area, and especially by making her bottom feel a breeze. I can appreciate your concern with the pests that you have, would there still be a risk if the bottom of your cage was close-mesh hardware cloth?

Otherwise, keep bringing your broodies out to free-range with the others, make it enticing with special treats there, block their access to their nests, set them up on roosts to sleep.

Or just give in and let your hens incubate a few eggs. I think that bantam cochins tend to be quite broody. Perhaps there are other BYC members, or other poultry keepers near you who would love for your broodies to set eggs for them. That way your hens will be happy, you can have the pleasure of watching them raise chicks (or ducks, geese, guineas, turkeys, etc), and then return them all to their owner when the hens are done.

 

[galanie]

I'm with Sunny side up. Having them be broody for more than around 3 weeks is bad for their health because they don't eat much when broody. I've had one set for more than 7 weeks when the eggs she was supposed to set were weeks late in coming. She was looking so bad I put cups of water and food in front of the nest in her own little enclosure so she could eat an drink w/out getting up. That, and pulling her off it once a day for a little R&R got her looking better.

Now it's a routine with that broody. She depends on me picking her up once a day and expects the food and water cups and so long as I comply, she happily sets the eggs then is the very best mom ever. None of the others have been that good at it.

Some take 2 days, some take a week. Much longer than that w/out being out of the cage at all might indicate you have one of those impossible to break ones, but that is really rare. I have the dubious pleasure of having one of those oddballs. And she's a horrid mom too.

All mine are Orpingtons which have a rep as being really broody. Well let me tell you, at one point I had, of my flock of 8, 2 with chicks and 3 broody. So five of eight chickens were out of commission. That broody buster cage got a workout!

 

[TwoCrows]

I have a question about broodies...I had a terrible time breaking my broody hen 2 weeks ago. I first tried separating her out of the flock for 4 full days. That did not work. Then I tried the cage method for 4 days. That also did not work. So I did the "broody soak" in cold water. I had to do it twice in one day, but it did work!

So, since the time she went broody and the week now that she has not been broody, she has not layed in 2+ weeks. She is also depressed looking.

How long til the broody gets back to laying and is it normal for her to be depressed looking??

Thanks all you experts!

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Again, I would say that is difficult to answer because every hen is different. Some will go right back to their "regularly scheduled programming", others will need more time to adjust.

It could also be possible that she really IS laying, but has found some hidden spot to make a secret nest and is working on her next clutch.

You are observant to notice her depressed demeanor. Check her over for other things that could be causing that, mites, worms, injury, etc.

It seems that there are some hens who aren't as serious about brooding, will get the urge once or twice in their lifetimes, are easy to discourage. There are others who will go broody more often, but can still be fairly easily redirected. But for those who continue to go broody again & again, and must spend days at a time in a Broody Buster, I think they should either be allowed to brood or given/swapped/sold to someone who will let them. Otherwise it's a continual battle, taking up the people's time, and frustrating the nature of the animal.

 

[TwoCrows]

Thanks for the advice Sunny Side Up....I don't free range the girls, so the nest boxes are the only places to lay. I personally think her body is still in the broody mode, because each night she tries to go into a nest box just before roosting. And occasionally during the day I will see her staring into the coop at the bottom of the ramp, looking at the nest boxes from a distance. LOL She is a very determined broody.

They all were just wormed in March. I will give her a good look over this morning for anything that might be a crawling on her. I don't have a rooster, so I didn't think it was all that good for her to set on infertile eggs. And I only have 2 nest boxes and the girls use them both. This broody would only be hogging up the space. LOL

Thank you for your input! Hopefully she will get over it soon and get back to business!

 

[CityChicken05]

That may work, but Iv found it much easier to replace whatever the broody hen is laying on with Ice cubes. That will usually snap them out of it pretty quick!

http://www.facebook.com/EvvChickens

 

[kareninthesun]

mine tag team or make it a party. always seem to have at least one. right now three. the one I worried about most insisted on using the wicker chair by my window. she would stay during rain, intense sun. uncovered. as soon as I rigged a cover over her instead of doing the usual in phsically moving her, she was fine. dont ask me why, bit either grapes or watermellon perks them up enough to forget the broody needs.

 

[judyki2004]

I like to add a funny memory of my childhood in the country in Puerto Rico. There are always free range chickens in the neighborhood where i was rise , and my grandparents use to have a huge yard, part of the farm where there always kept freerange chickens. I don't know if it was a traditional method or if it was an invention of my aunt's creative (and playful) mind (I bet it was her idea), but I remember seen this scene more than once. When my aunt Catalina wants to brake a "broody mood" of a hen she used to get a banana plant dried leaf and attached it to the broody hen's tail feathers with a piece of cotton cord.... The poor hen felt something in her back and got very scared, so she tried to escape from that noisy predator running and flying like crazy

making a big fuss among all the chickens ( they all get upset too) around all the yard ... and when finally stop (tired & thirsty) she had totally forgot that she was broody. :O) Of course this technique wont work with urban byc

 

[ctomsheck]

I started raising chickens last summer wth my small mixed flock of seven; six hens and one rooster. Three of the girls love to fly over our six foot fence and lay in creative places. When my Cuckoo Maran started staying on her nest in the garage instead of rejoining the group at night, I tried bringing her in after dark every day for a week, and every night she was back on the nest. After almost three weeks of sitting, I went to the local feed store and bought three newly hatched chicks and put them under her after it got dark outside. The next morning around 5:00 we took her and her new babies to the hen house where she immediately settled in. That was about three weeks ago, and they have been successfully integrated into the flock. Now I have a flock of ten!

 

[jtwiss]

My little broody hen --- to break her, I had to take her eggs away. You would have thought I had killed her babies. She made the biggest racket for about an hour, but then she got over it and has been fine since