How to stop a hen being broody?

[Davlyn]

I just joined the group and very new to raising chickens. Just started in May of 2009. I just love it. I have / had a broody hen a bantam Cochin.. oh she was broody. My friend that got me into this , told me to just keep picking her up & putting her out. The next day the same & it went on. I started feeding her in her nest. Then I just put her out every morn, she has stopped on her own.

 

[sepiolida]

Kick her out then lock the door! Poor thing.

 

[Davlyn]

LOL.. Bok Bok Bok~~~~ My 4 yr old grand -girl talks to the chicks now like I do.. it's so kool. My daughter said , it's so funny to hear her talk about the chicks after she's been her. The babe loves them, & when she is here we spend soooo much time in their yard.. I love it

 

[sepiolida]

Awesome, lol. And they talk back! I talk to the cat too.

 

[Davlyn]

LOL.. I talke to my cats & dogs also & the horses....

 

[LadyElaine]

I have a Buff Orphington named Dot that went broody three weeks ago. I pulled Dot off her nest at least three times a day to no avail. So, today I decided to place her in a wheelbarrow filled with cold water. So far I have dunked her three times while counting to 60. Her bottom half was submersed. My question is how many minutes do I dunk her for and how often.

 

[Buugette]

Quote:
My white silkie went broody last summer, we let her hatch chicks... when my red silkie went broody... we didn't have anything for her to hatch. We tried taking her off the nest, over and over... didn't work. Then when it got really hot, I started misting the girls to help keep them cool... well when I did this, I would pull Henrietta out of the nesting box and douse her underside... just soak her. She walked funny for a while... and I would this several times during the day and block off the nest box. She got the message after about 3 days.

My concern now would be the cold. Too cold to do that now here in the east.

Good luck.

D

 

[elmo]

Things like swinging a chicken around or dunking her in cold water aren't going to affect the hormones that are causing her behavior, but these practices might well injure your chicken. I wouldn't ever do these things myself.

You can sometimes discourage a broody by taking away her ability to nest. Sometimes they'll give up after only a few days but sometimes she'll persist. I have a part d'Uccle hen who I persuaded to give up broodiness several times over the last year simply by blocking her access to the nestbox. But late this summer, she persisted for about three weeks (the normal incubation period) before she gave up.

If a hen is really determined, it doesn't matter to her that she's got no eggs to sit on, or if her bottom is on wire. You just have to wait these hens out, I think.