Chickenpoor
Songster
I have a BCM hen that has been trying to be broody for a week or two even though she had no eggs to set on. I have fought with her and tried many things to try to break her out of the broody cycle. I tried throwing her out of the nest box every time she got in it and it didnt work, I hatched chicks in my incubator and tried putting one under her and it didn't work out because she attacked it, that made me angry at her
so I grabbed her out of the nest and dipped her in the water trough to see if that would help............still didnt work, she just walked around in the run until she dried and went right back to the nest
.
SO today I got to thinking about all the stuff I had read on here and a few other sites about how if you cooled their underside it is supposed to make their body quit producing the hormones and stuff that makes their underside warm up which in turn triggers them to want to be broody(which is why I tried dunking her in the water trough). I then thought maybe I can try putting a few pieces of ice under her in the nest which led to the thought of NO that will get the nest box wet and nasty which will lead to mold or something. SO then I decided I needed to put the ice in something so it wouldnt get every where when it melted. I grabbed a quart sized zip lock bag and filled it half way with ice, forced all the air out of the bag and zipped it. I then went out to the coop and placed the bag under her, I thought she would have a fit when she saw it but she didnt, she let me put it under her and then she shuffled around on it like they do their eggs to get them situated and just sat there. I went out about 1 1/2 - 2 hours later to refill their feeder and she was still on it. when I put the food in she got off and ate and then.........to my amazement.......she didnt return to the nest and she wasnt puffing up or clucking as much as she had been when she would usually get off the nest.......and even more amazing this after noon she got on the roost with the rest of the BCM flock instead of getting in the nest for the night so Im hoping I broke her broody spell.
I will keep everyone updated and let you know if she stays out of the nest tomorrow or not. Im just so excited that she got on the roosts tonight instead of going back in the nest that I wanted to go ahead and let everyone know about the trick I found that just might work to break stubborn broodys. If you have a hen that wants to be broody and you dont want her to be, try it and let me know if it works for you or not. Just dont leave the ice bag under them to long.
SO today I got to thinking about all the stuff I had read on here and a few other sites about how if you cooled their underside it is supposed to make their body quit producing the hormones and stuff that makes their underside warm up which in turn triggers them to want to be broody(which is why I tried dunking her in the water trough). I then thought maybe I can try putting a few pieces of ice under her in the nest which led to the thought of NO that will get the nest box wet and nasty which will lead to mold or something. SO then I decided I needed to put the ice in something so it wouldnt get every where when it melted. I grabbed a quart sized zip lock bag and filled it half way with ice, forced all the air out of the bag and zipped it. I then went out to the coop and placed the bag under her, I thought she would have a fit when she saw it but she didnt, she let me put it under her and then she shuffled around on it like they do their eggs to get them situated and just sat there. I went out about 1 1/2 - 2 hours later to refill their feeder and she was still on it. when I put the food in she got off and ate and then.........to my amazement.......she didnt return to the nest and she wasnt puffing up or clucking as much as she had been when she would usually get off the nest.......and even more amazing this after noon she got on the roost with the rest of the BCM flock instead of getting in the nest for the night so Im hoping I broke her broody spell.
I will keep everyone updated and let you know if she stays out of the nest tomorrow or not. Im just so excited that she got on the roosts tonight instead of going back in the nest that I wanted to go ahead and let everyone know about the trick I found that just might work to break stubborn broodys. If you have a hen that wants to be broody and you dont want her to be, try it and let me know if it works for you or not. Just dont leave the ice bag under them to long.
