How to BREAK broody?!?!?!?!?!?!

[Doormantnt]

I have one of my 6 that is broody......she needs....um....motivation....to get out of box just to eat and drink, which I am makeing sure she does....

She is a 9 month old barred rock (I assume feed store dayold)..she was always like a dog following me around, and would literally sleep in my lap.....NOW....wow. she will light you up for trying to move her.

There is no rooster around, I have no fertile eggs to put under her, there are no eggs at all for that matter, they are collected twice a day...I even removed the golf balls from the nest.

What does she think she is hatching??? there is nothing but shaveings in the boxes.

So I NEED SOME INPUT!!!!! how do I return normalacy to my hen house???

so what am I in for?? how long will this last? should I give her "something" to fake hatching? would hunger be a motivater for her to get thru this quicker? ie. would she get off next to eat on her own without motivation?

Thank you for all your help...

TNT

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

I just went through this with my Cuckoo Marans. She sat for almost 3 weeks, despite being kicked off the nest several times per day.

Your can either find her several fertile eggs, assuming you can put her in a safe and sheltered area where she will be able to keep herself and her chicks warm, or you can break her.

The ONLY thing that worked for me, was putting my broody in a wire bottomed cage, with food and water of course. With no bedding to snuggle into, they can't keep their bellies warm, which is instinctually all they want to do. I let mine out every 24 hours, to stretch and explore. The second she went back to the nest, she got put back in the cage. Mine was "broken" in 48 hours. I felt bad about locking her up, but it was quickly over.

Letting her sit on something else won't make her stop. Chickens don't have much concept of time, so they could sit there for months if they're motivated.

Oh, you could try picking up a couple of day old chicks at the feed store and slipping them under her. She might think she's hatched her eggs. She may also kill them, so it's a bit of a riskier operation.

Good Luck!

 

[azygous]

I had a brahma who took herself right to the point of starvation brooding on an empty nest for over a month. My vet is strictly house pets and large farm animals so all he could recommend was to feed her chicken soup, which probably kept her alive.

The second time she pulled this was only a few months after the first time. In my disgust and frustration, I yanked her off the nest the very second I discovered she was at it again, and I locked her out of the coup. At dusk, I let her back in and she slept the night on the nest. The next day I kicked her off the nest and locked her out again. I had to keep opening the coop for the others who had a legitimate need to lay, and it was mildly inconvenient. But I kept her off the nest during the day.

I think it was only three days and she kind of shook it off and resumed normal behavior.

I have a hunch, though, each broody hen will be different and what will work with one may not work with another. It's one of the most bizarre behaviors I've encountered, and the most frustrating. The good news is I've never heard of a hen dying from it, though. Good luck!

 

[mom'sfolly]

I have a perpetually broody BO. Sometimes I just kick her off whenever I go by, other times she goes to broody jail. Broody jail is a small 4x4 pen that has nothing but food and water in it. She is allowed in the coop for the night. The second method works faster. She has already been broody twice this winter, summer with her is going to be a dream......oh yeah, and she is always sitting on air, because I take the eggs away. She has hatched out one clutch, but she killed one chick, and another died so she was left with one remaining chick.

 

[Doormantnt]

OK...first THANK YA'LL for the quick responses...

Now, my coop is on the smaller side (4 1/2' deep 8' wide, and bout 6 foot tall inside) it is "elevated" so locking her up inside is not an option, so the other option is semi-heated laundry room, or unheated garage.

my problem would be the days...should it be "penitentary" style 23 hours confinement, hour work out time? I cannot let her run securely, and not have access to coop(if it is even recommended)...

so here are my thoughts....have large dog crates 2' x2' x 4', acutally have two, so I can make a 4x4x4 play pen in the basement with nothing but food and water, letting her out for little bit in evenings, then back in basement pen? after couple days try the coop again?

WOW, my wife is going to have my backside......we were elated to get the "brooder" out of the basement, now back in with broody jail....LOL....

keep the info coming....looking for all sugestions

Thanks
TNT

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

If she has a solid floor, she will probably just try to get cozy there.

I would only bring her into a sheltered place if you are planning to let her hatch eggs.

Can you raise up the floor in your crate with some hardware cloth or some sort of wire grate? I think you really need the air movement under her tummy to get it chilled so she'll give up. I don't know, maybe a cold garage floor would do the same thing.

If you worried about her getting cold at night, maybe let her back into the coop at night, or put her on a perch after dark so she can't find the nest. Luckily we had a break in the winter weather so I was able to leave her in the crate all night. It was cold but sheltered, and she had a perch to get off of the wire.

Be creative. The sooner you break her, the sooner she'll start laying again!

 

[Doormantnt]

ok new idea...I have a roofed, fully enclosed run 10' x 18'...I cannot lock just her out of the coop, but what about in the morning when I open coop door to let them all out to run, she goes into a suppended, dog crate in the run, with food and water of course. my worry is night, she will have to go back into coop, or in house. preferable coop, and if after dark, put her on roost, and she should stay right???? WOW, I'm trying to outthink a chicken....and she is winning.....

so her choice....in nest box in morning, then in the dog crate......out and about, then she can stay out of broody jail.....

this is kinda like walking past the run with the soup pot when they didn't want to lay.....make an example of her I guess.

Thanks.

TNT

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

That sounds like a plan. She'll get the idea. That's essentially what I did.

She may find her way back to the nest at night, but even a couple of days of this should break her.

If it's above 32, I really wouldn't worry about leaving her in there all night. My BR's seem to prefer to roost out in the run rather than in the coop. I only force them to go in if it's below 25 or so.

 

[Doormantnt]

Nah. not here....your close enough....I'm in central MD...not forcasted much above freezing during days for bout week....

I'll have to work that up tomorrow....heck, may be broke by monday...LOL...doubt it though...but nice thought.

Thank you for your input, and experience.

TNT

 

[texasgal]

Send her to me!! j/k