How to stop a broody hen and control the population of your flock

[happyhappy]

Tim

Thank you so much for your time, my super stubborn broody is a Black Australorp! Please don't apologize for being "long winded" you have perfect verbage and spelling what a delight to read! Well now I guess I'm on the hunt for some fertile eggs, that don't get broody. She will be an eggcellent mother! Again thanks

Lynette

PS I love my golden sex-link she's the perfect chicken!

 

[galanie]

Quote:
Galanie how far off the ground was the cage? I have used the "cage" method for my BA for at least 11/2 weeks with the ice cubes sitting directly under her belly and a fan blowing on her from about two feet away. This hen is stubborn and I orginally named her Sweetie Pie I now call her Big Turkey! I am almost at my wits end and ready to give her some eggs to hatch. But after ready Tim's thread it's not the thing to do, I cannot take anymore hen's or roos!
I will try the the ice thing until my hands freeze and I run out of ice.

If anyone has anymore suggestions PLEASE help, she is disrupting my flock and taking out my back from dragging her out of the "only" nesting box that everyone uses!

Thanks in advance! Can you tell this is my first broody, now I hear that my two LB may get broody!

It is about 18 inches off the ground. She is only a year old and it took her a long time to for real get broody after many false starts. Good luck with your hatch!

 

[RareBreedFancier]

Quote:
Just be aware that any breed can go broody.

I'd always been told Leghorns won't go broody but they can, it's just less likely. I currently have 6 Leghorn chicks I purchased as company for my lone Easter hatcher and the fellow was glad to be rid of them. His Leghorn hen had hidden a nest and hatched them and he did not want babies at the time.

 

[happyhappy]

Quote:
Just be aware that any breed can go broody.

I'd always been told Leghorns won't go broody but they can, it's just less likely. I currently have 6 Leghorn chicks I purchased as company for my lone Easter hatcher and the fellow was glad to be rid of them. His Leghorn hen had hidden a nest and hatcherd them and he did not want babies at the time.

Oh I can see that RareBreed I have been on many broody threads I don't really want babies but can't let her continue this way if there's no end in sight! I have someone in mind already that wants chickens - I turned her on to some ex battery hens saved over this way. Maybe she'll like the idea of having chicks for her little one!?

 

[Empathy]

Greetings and thanks so very much for posting this. I am personally on the same side as you, and I liked reading your suggestions about the floorless cage and the ice cubes. I currently have a broody hen (she just started yesterday - but is demonstrating all the signs - hasn't left the nest, puffs up like a lioness and growls whenever anyone gets close....) so I came here to see what the "nicest" solution would be to break her. I've done it a few times before - simply by removing the hen over and over until she tired of the game, but it always made me a bit sad to do that. The thing is - we have 9 hens and one rooster right now, and if I could guarantee that an egg wouldn't turn out to be a rooster, then I might be interested in allowing some babies. We are fortunate to have the space, we have the money for more food etc.... But since most of our chickens have always been rescues or adoptions, I've seen first hand how hard it is in my area to re-home a rooster. And as a bleeding heart vegetarian I personally don't have the heart to send a roo to a soup pot because I made the mistake of allowing an egg to hatch - I have to hold myself accountable. (and please, don't think I am preaching here - this is just MY opinion - I'm not saying anyone else is wrong for doing otherwise).

So anyway, thanks again for your suggestions - I guess I'll be off to the coop to start breaking "the broody" out of Daphne (she's a mixed sexlink of some sort - no idea!) and see how it goes.

All the best,
Empathy

 

[cluck love]

I have a very happy little flock with one broody, I am going to try the ice!

 

[pixiedouglas]

Quote:
What if you let her set on the wooden eggs for the 21 days and then sneak chicks under her? I'm just curious because I know some of my breeds are prone to broody and we won't be keeping a rooster, so my plan for as my flock ages was to let some of them go broody and let the hens raise their own replacements so to speak. Obviously baring in unforeseen losses I'm a ways from that, none of my girls are older than 13 weeks at this point. But I thought that way we can see the wonder of a hen with babies someday and not have chick dust all over my garage again.

 

[BANTAMWYANDOTTE]

My advice originally written for you my friend is posted in the thread below:


https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=6398021#p6398021

 

[chickkrzi]

I know this is a old thread. But. J have a buff orpingtion hen that when broody back in March and hatchet 12 chicks out of 14 eggs. Now they are 8 weeks old, she has wanted to go broody again. With sumer just around the corner and temperature reaching 95 or so. I fell it would be to hard on her to hatch another batch. I was just wondering if i brake her broodyness would cause problems later when the timing is better?

 

[battagliac]

Thanks for taking time to write this article. We do not have roosters, but we have an incredibly broody white leghorn. I think we will try the four ice cube method and see what happens. She is one of six chickens we have and is not laying now, but she immediately sits on any egg laid, she sleeps in the empty egg box, and sits in the egg box most of every day. We started taking her out of the box and keeping her in our mud room off the back of the house all day to see if she'd give up, but she seems so frustrated. The ice sounds like a better alternative. Thanks again.