I Officially Have A Hen That Is The Queen of Broody Hens

[bayareapilot]

One of my Sapphire Gems evidently trying to get the world record for broody hens. Usually I find the behavior subsides on its own within a 21 day period or so and that's without any interaction on my part other than to make sure the hen is healthy and drinking and eating.

So I have a hen that has been broody for I would guess close to a month and a half. Now I have cameras in the coop and in the run so I noticed that she does go out to eat and drink and when I bring her out of the nesting box to collect the eggs and give her a chance to run around, her weight and body feel fine.

Even still, I am still scratching my head as to why a hen would stay broody this long? She's otherwise very healthy and as I said she's eating and drinking and only poops outside the coop. Her weight and body confirmation is fine. So clearly it's not having any effect on her health, just surprised it went on so long. I assume when we get near winter this behavior should start to subside? Anyway just wondering?

 

[DobieLover]

I assume when we get near winter this behavior should start to subside?

If this were my hen, she'd have been in the broody breaker after a few days of confirmed behavior. Her muscle tone cannot be good with sitting on a nest so long. Neither can it be good for her tendons and joints.
If you don't want her to set, just toss her into an elevated wire crate with a board to sit on and food and water and place her in a shaded area with lots of distractions if possible. Let her out after 4-5 days and see if she roosts.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

One of my Sapphire Gems evidently trying to get the world record for broody hens. Usually I find the behavior subsides on its own within a 21 day period or so and that's without any interaction on my part other than to make sure the hen is healthy and drinking and eating.

So I have a hen that has been broody for I would guess close to a month and a half. Now I have cameras in the coop and in the run so I noticed that she does go out to eat and drink and when I bring her out of the nesting box to collect the eggs and give her a chance to run around, her weight and body feel fine.

Even still, I am still scratching my head as to why a hen would stay broody this long? She's otherwise very healthy and as I said she's eating and drinking and only poops outside the coop. Her weight and body confirmation is fine. So clearly it's not having any effect on her health, just surprised it went on so long. I assume when we get near winter this behavior should start to subside? Anyway just wondering?

Some hens won't stop without external forces or babies. I have a few birds that if I don't plan on letting them actually hatch babies (or planning to make them foster), I have to just breal myself or they'll just sit there until they're too weak to go back to normal behavior

 

[bayareapilot]

If this were my hen, she'd have been in the broody breaker after a few days of confirmed behavior. Her muscle tone cannot be good with sitting on a nest so long. Neither can it be good for her tendons and joints.
If you don't want her to set, just toss her into an elevated wire crate with a board to sit on and food and water and place her in a shaded area with lots of distractions if possible. Let her out after 4-5 days and see if she roosts.

Naw, I don't know: I'm not much for jailing her in a haphazard cage because she won't comply.

Not worried about her joints or tendons because one of the things I do is I have a automatic door which I can override that leads to the nesting box. So I'll go out about 3:30 or 4:00 in the afternoon after everyone has already laid their eggs and while I'm cleaning the coop I'll use my magnetic key to close the door that leads to the nesting box. Then I'll come around through the run do the cleaning of the run and head over to the nesting box lift the broody hen out and collect the eggs. So she spends her afternoon running around with the others and she can't get back to the nesting box so she ends up roosting with the other hens when night time comes.

I think people tend to forget that there's a number of ways to work with the issue and they don't need to be punitive.

But I do thank you for your input but it's just not my style.

 

[DobieLover]

Naw, I don't know: I'm not much for jailing her in a haphazard cage because she won't comply.

She is self-isolating in a nest box. Being in the crate for a few days is only going to help her in the long run.

I don't consider it punitive in the slightest. She's still with the flock. It just helps her hormones settle down enough to break her out of her broodiness.

 

[bayareapilot]

Again thank you very much for your input. It's just one of those things where it's different strokes for different folks so to speak. Make it a great week!

 

[bayareapilot]

One of my Sapphire Gems evidently trying to get the world record for broody hens. Usually I find the behavior subsides on its own within a 21 day period or so and that's without any interaction on my part other than to make sure the hen is healthy and drinking and eating.

So I have a hen that has been broody for I would guess close to a month and a half. Now I have cameras in the coop and in the run so I noticed that she does go out to eat and drink and when I bring her out of the nesting box to collect the eggs and give her a chance to run around, her weight and body feel fine.

Even still, I am still scratching my head as to why a hen would stay broody this long? She's otherwise very healthy and as I said she's eating and drinking and only poops outside the coop. Her weight and body confirmation is fine. So clearly it's not having any effect on her health, just surprised it went on so long. I assume when we get near winter this behavior should start to subside? Anyway just wondering?

I'm replying to myself .... LOL..... seriously I was trying to find a way to append an additional comment on my original post.... My uncle who has a hobby farm in Indiana told me what I might do with my super-broody is to either let her hatch a couple of eggs OR do something he called "grafting" chicks. He said that could break her broodiness? Basically, it involves putting a few day old chicks underneath her in the night when she is sleeping.

Sounds interesting, but I have a bunch of concerns about that - for instance how do I know when the morning comes she just won't just attack the chicks? Also if she doesn't attack the chicks how do I know that one of the other hens or the rooster might attack the chicks? Is this method a good one or is it fraught with more potential negatives than positives?