Is it better to lock a broody hen or let her roam to break her out of it?

[JuliaSunshine]

When I had broody hens, I either lock them in a 3'x4' box with a mesh floor, let them roam outside or keep them in a 6'x8' coop with no access to nesting boxes.
I couldn't for sure say which method was better but keeping them in a bigger space might've worked a bit better than keeping them in the box or cage.

Do you have any experience trying to break broody hens out of the broodiness by keeping them confined in a small space or a bigger space where they can move around more freely?
I'm wondering which worked better for other people.

 

[Momma-Hen-Misti]

I personally use a medium or large sized dog crate on the concrete garage floor. I do add a wooden roost bar as well. I leave the lights on 24 hours a day & we go in & out of the house thru there. They are normally broke by day 5 & can go back in with the flock. If they go back into the next box, I immediately take them back into the broody breaker! It's been working great for 3 years. I put puppy pads under the crate & remove the tray.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

The objective is to lower the hen's body temperature. So for me, a dog crate worked well, a wire one, set on blocks so cool air could circulate all around her. In the heat of summer, I would also take the hen and give her a cool, not cold, soak in a shallow tub, just to bring the heat out of her breast, belly and thighs, splashing the water up under her wings - all areas that feel feverish to me. For the most part, although they may not like it initially, they quickly seem to calm down and enjoy it a lot. Then I dry them off with a towel and put them in the crate. I start with three days of confinement, but if they go straight back to the nest I put them back in the crate for another day and repeat each day until they don't. I give a cooling bath each day, too, and give them some time out of the crate to eat, drink, poop and dustbathe.

I think we had to turn the crate upside down when we took the tray out, as there is no fine mesh in the bottom. And put the tray on top or she may fly out. Good luck!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Incidentally, "letting her roam" is not a strategy at all. All she will do is park herself in the nest and stay there. You must restrict her access to the nest. Another strategy I have found useful is to put her in my spare pen, which has variously served as a temporary bachelor pad, a grow-out pen, a "see-no-touch" situation for young chicks prior to integration, and such. There are no nests in the small shed in this pen, but my broody can wander around and get some exercise. She also remains part of the flock as she can see, hear and smell them during her separation.

 

[rosemarythyme]

I've tried all of the following: medium wire dog crate (roughly 1.5' x 2' (3 sq ft), my brooder on the run floor (which is about 9 sq ft), a covered dog exercise pen that's 4x4 (16 sq ft), and even an overturned tea cart wrapped in chicken wire (not recommended haha, but I did not have a cage or something similar at the time).

They honestly all worked about the same for me, I don't notice them breaking faster one way or another or being less upset with 16 sq ft vs 3 sq ft since their hormones are just telling them to go back to the nest, so they don't want to eat much and just pace around.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

Incidentally, "letting her roam" is not a strategy at all. All she will do is park herself in the nest and stay there. You must restrict her access to the nest. Another strategy I have found useful is to put her in my spare pen, which has variously served as a temporary bachelor pad, a grow-out pen, a "see-no-touch" situation for young chicks prior to integration, and such. There are no nests in the small shed in this pen, but my broody can wander around and get some exercise. She also remains part of the flock as she can see, hear and smell them during her separation.

Thank you.
I meant "letting them roam outside" as 'roam but without access to nesting box', similar to what you're doing with your spare pen. I'm wondering if moving around, usually trying to get out of the space to get back to her nesting box in vain, will be helpful to break the broodiness or not.
Also giving them some space to move around and allowing them to remain in their flock is nice as you mentioned.

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I've tried all of the following: medium wire dog crate (roughly 1.5' x 2' (3 sq ft), my brooder on the run floor (which is about 9 sq ft), a covered dog exercise pen that's 4x4 (16 sq ft), and even an overturned tea cart wrapped in chicken wire (not recommended haha, but I did not have a cage or something similar at the time).

They honestly all worked about the same for me, I don't notice them breaking faster one way or another or being less upset with 16 sq ft vs 3 sq ft since their hormones are just telling them to go back to the nest, so they don't want to eat much and just pace around.

Thank you. It's good up know. That's so true them pacing around in whatever space they have. I guess I can do whatever I see fit at the moment then.
Another question: do you think broody hens will get out of it more slowly if their space is somewhat dark?

 

[JuliaSunshine]

I personally use a medium or large sized dog crate on the concrete garage floor. I do add a wooden roost bar as well. I leave the lights on 24 hours a day & we go in & out of the house thru there. They are normally broke by day 5 & can go back in with the flock. If they go back into the next box, I immediately take them back into the broody breaker! It's been working great for 3 years. I put puppy pads under the crate & remove the tray.

Do you keep them in the crate all day long for 4 days or do they have a chance to walk around outside during that time?

 

[rosemarythyme]

do you think broody hens will get out of it more slowly if their space is somewhat dark?

So far I haven't noticed a difference, though we're talking minor differences in amount of light I think (as they can't be in complete darkness), like the breaker cage being inside the coop vs out in the run. I've tried it both ways, don't really see a difference.

My main preference with having the broody outside of the coop and in the run is this allows the rest of the flock to see her the majority of the day, so adding her back into the flock is just opening the door to the cage.

 

[aart]

Wire breaker crate in the coop is all I've ever used.
I chose that because it just makes the most sense for overall flock/broody management.
Takes 3-5 days depending on bird.
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/