My Buff Orp. Will not stop setting

[WARMECH]

Hi,
I have 6 layers and a rooster. My rooster is a Easter egg-er, I have 3 auster's, 1 Dominique, 1 domestic or Jersey white, AND , Fluffy ,my buff orpington she is our favorite! This girl has started setting and we don't intend on hatching. We just sell and give our eggs away to family and friends! How do I stop her from setting ,,she does not come out of the coop to roam with all the other birds? I'm worried about her. its hot in the coop during the day! Even with fans! thanks WARMECH

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Welcome to BYC!
There are several methods to "break a broody", the one I prefer is to employ the use of a broody buster. A broody buster is simply a small cage that has no bedding in it and, optimally, a ventilated (ie mesh) bottom. For best results the cage should be elevated off the floor to allow good air flow up through that ventilated bottom - paver stones, cement blocks, wood blocks, etc all work for this purpose. The cage should be large enough for the bird to comfortably fit with a water and food station and have the ability to move about a bit. The lack of nesting materiel is to allow for cooling of the underside, which is furthered by the air flow from below. Locate the cage in an area where the bird will be protected from predators, weather and heat - inside the coop is good if your coop is large enough to allow it, if not a garage, shed, etc as long as there is good natural or artificial lighting to allow the bird a "day time" period.
Place the bird in the cage and leave her in there. I like to do a good, solid three days and then let the hen out for a trial run - if the bird goes back to the nest after being released, back into the cage she goes. Lather, rinse, repeat.

 

[aart]

..and here's a visual:
Water bottle was added after pick was taken.


My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

 

[tcstoehr]

Seems like half the time there's a broody-hen thread, it's a Buff Orpington. I'll never own one again, unless I decide to hatch eggs.

 

[WARMECH]

Oh Thank you so much! We are on it right away.

 

[WARMECH]

She is our favorite ,,but a big pain in the butt!,,lol

 

[WARMECH]

I'll post a pic asap

 

[WARMECH]

And here they are ladies and gentlemen!!!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

And here they are ladies and gentlemen!!!

What a lovely flock! BO are just fabulous birds, and well worth the "pain in the butt" moments in trade for their wonderful personality. I'm not surprised that she is someone's favorite, the three in our flock are everyone's favorites too.

 

[WARMECH]

OH Hey that worked like a charm ,,2 days was all it took