I have been told to leave my broody hen alone, NO, she will not be hatching eggs at all......???

[countrycakelady]

I have a 1.5 year old Red Sex Link who has gone broody and that is putting it mildly, lol.......she refuses to leave the house, and yesterday , she took it upon herself to fly to the top of the nesting boxes and SAT THERE for HOURS. With the lid closed. She just sat there. All fluffed up and mad as a ....never mind.....

I have a friend who has had chickens, who has told me to just leave her alone, she will know when to come back to her senses...she has stopped laying her eggs the past 2 days...and she really doesn't want to come out of the house to even eat and drink...we are in the high 90's here, NC. I have been hauling her out, she is not happy, but am I wrong? She won't be hatching eggs...we have no roos, and I have 8 newbies who are almost 3 months old....they are in their own coop/area.....

 

[sumi]

Oh broodies, got to love them, hey? If you don't want her to hatch eggs, you should try and break her broodiness. One method I found is quite effective is putting the hen in a wire bottom cage with some food and water for about 3 days. Good luck with her!

 

[iwiw60]

Yep, she's broody alright! You will need to 'break' her of it...she won't just do it on her own. Here's a page with great info on how to break a broody:

http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/search?q=broody+breaker

 

[countrycakelady]

Lol...she has even told me that I may 'kill her trying to break her being broody'...........REALLY?

 

[GOLDENSEABRIGHT]

well its your decision but I suggest taking her off or she might starve with lack of food.

 

[Ridgerunner]

A piece of space junk may fall out of the sky and hit your house this afternoon, so I guess it's possible you could kill her by trying to break her. But I really don't think it is very likely.

If it helps, I put my seventh hen so far this year in my broody buster this morning. I have not killed any of them yet.

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Lol...she has even told me that I may 'kill her trying to break her being broody'...........REALLY?

Please tell me you asked her to expand on that........because I'd love to hear her reasoning.

 

[Egghead_Jr]

She'll be closer to killing herself attempting to hatch non existent eggs. My first broody I figured she'd break herself even without hatching chicks. Did not happen, three and half weeks went by and she was staying strong. Finally broke her with a cage. She went broody again two weeks later. Broke her, went broody again so gave her a few eggs. She was determined and very weak by the time they hatched. It's not typical for them to be that determined but they do suffer health when broody and if you don't plan to hatch then break her with a cage asap. It will take a few weeks for her to start laying eggs again once broken of her broodiness too. It's best to break them as soon as you see they are broody.

 

[countrycakelady]

I laughed my face off @ her....and Miss Priss is going in the wire bottom dog cage in just a bit.....if she bites the dust, she will bite the dust. I have had enough of this...and I need her to lay eggs! FOR ME, not for motherhood, rofl........

 

[GOLDENSEABRIGHT]

lol wow I got a way.. take a bucket of water and splash it on her that'll get her up