How to 'de-broody' a hen? (Second Time This Summer)

[Clucking_Caramel]

I have a young broody who just turned one in June. She went broody once, I dunked her in water, and she stayed broody for several days. Then her mom got some of her broody squawk and beat her up a bit (Nothing serious - seen much worse) and broke her broodiness. The other day I notice she is at it again. I can't hatch any chicks because I have a small chicken run along with two roosters already.(One lives in a separate pen with a hen. She has no problems with him, no lost feathers and they are stuck together like glue!)

Should I try the water again? I don't particularly like the idea of trying to bait someone to beat her up to fix this again.. Did she go broody again because I didn't fully break her the first time?

 

[oldhenlikesdogs]

Wetting down a bird doesn't really work. You need to pen her away from her chosen nest site, or put her in a wire bottom crate slightly elevated off the ground for 3-5 days generally.

 

[aart]

Agrees that dunking the bird is not a great 'cure' and can be dangerous if water is too cold. Only time wetting the birds belly might help is if it's really hot out, then put them in a breaker crate.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.

 

[ChickieLee]

We take broody hens and separate them from everyone else for 3 days and 3 nights. Works every time. These are Bantam Rhode Island Reds.

 

[Barbra67winedot]

I had two of my bantam Wyandotte’s go broody this summer. Simple and very effective solution. Take a freezer bag fill it with ice cubes and put it under your broody hen, it will flip her out of that cycle. She wants to hatch eggs so her body temperature stays warm for hatching, you have to cool her down. It took two days of them sitting on the ice to flip them.