I have a broody hen on my hands!

[LorrieLea]

My sweet girl has become a monster! Its been 3 days, ive removed her from the nesting box maybe 70 times, she goes back. Ive removed the bedding from the box, she went to the next one! She is stealing eggs from the other hens and claiming them as her own. She wont allow the other hens on the roost near ' her' box. She is NASTY! She attacked me, i had gloves and long sleeves on and i still have bruises. So now she is in a cage, poor girl. I have no roosters..just hens. Anything else I can do?

 

[Painted Calls]

Best thing to do with a broody that you don't intend to use for hatching, is to break them. Wire dog crates work great. I built broody jails.

The jail needs to be big enough to accommodate food and water, and for the hen to turn around and move a bit. Set it up on 6-8" blocks so a decent amount of airflow can circulate underneath. The best place to place the broody jail is in the coop/run with the other chickens. Makes reintegration less dramatic.

Keep her in there for a few days and try letting her out. If she goes to the nest box, put her straight back into the slammer. Take her out every day to let her dust bathe and socialize. If she tries to go back to her nest - straight back to jail.

Keep testing her until she proves she's broken by ignoring her "nest" and returning to her normal behavior.