I Can't Handle All These Broodies!!

[ScotianChick]

I left my house for 12 hours yesterday. I get back and I am missing three chickens. I thought I lost them but I had a feeling... went to the coop and THREE OF THEM ARE BROODY!!! My best layer, my RIR Alabama is broody. And two of my silverlaced wyandottes. One of them has been broody for weeks. I toss them out, I lock the coop, I do the cold water dunk... nothing. The RIR I locked out of the coop today but apparently she wasn't entirely broody yet because she laid an egg on the ground. I felt bad about that

But I'm really at the end of my rope. I'm half tempted to just let the one broody starve herself. Like fine, you haven't had sex since we got rid of our fullgrown roo, you're sitting on imaginary eggs... but you go ahead, bite me and ruffle yourself up, I don't care.

 

[zookeeper15133]

If putting them in a wire bottom cage where they can't warm their butts isn't an option, try putting ice cubes under them. Do it several times a day.
I'm in the middle of my second round of breaking broodies this year.

 

[jaimslee4u]

Put some fertile eggs under her.

 

[Southernbelle]

I hear you. I've got 5 of them out there.

My fool-proof method of breaking broodiness is to give them fertile eggs and wait 3 weeks.

 

[ScotianChick]

I barely have room for my 11 now! I can't imagine giving all three of them chicks!!

 

[jaimslee4u]

I understand that! I have total of 7 including my rooster and I only built my coop for 6. I didn't realize my girls were Broody until they were sitting on them for a couple days and then I faced the ethical decision of taking them away. Which I decided I couldn't live with so here we go.

Somehow I found someone to take my unhatched babies (when they hatch) - so it worked out and hopefully my hens will be done with broodiness and get back to work.

 

[ScotianChick]

That's it!! I'm going to lose it! I left for 5 hours this evening and when I returned 4/5 of my full grown chickens were in the nesting boxes making evil noises at me when I looked at them with my flash light. They even got by the obstacles I place in the nest boxes to keep them out. They were grouped into extremely evil pairs. I took each of them and gave them a dunk and put them on the roost because it's cool tonight. I thought that might get some circulation going and the water will cool 'em down.

But I get the feeling it'll be just like this again tomorrow even if it rains all day like it's supposed to. I will pick up a bag of ice on my way home from work and everyone will get a nice pile of ice babies under them.

 

[olliecatch]

Good luck with the ice bag...............

Our broody hen just settled right down on it like it was a group of eggs. Melted the ice so we kept replacing it with a fresh bag. Each time she would fluff her feathers and sit right down on it clucking away.

We finally gave up with that. Hope it works for you.

 

[ScotianChick]

All four got another cool dunk in the morning. I thought for sure this weather plus the dunking would fix it. Nope. So it cools down even more and after getting home after a 9 hour shift, I see that all four are still in the coop being broody... So another dunking and I shut the coop. Three of them are wet and cold and still standing RIGHT next to the coop. They ate for like five minutes, that's it. I'm leaving the coop shut until night fall in about 45 minutes.

I did not get a single egg today.

 

[zookeeper15133]

I usually get 10 or 12, I have gotten up to 14. Today I got 4! 6 broodies taking up all the boxes!