My girl fluffy wont leave nesting box

[JimmyShawns]

Being broody means she is trying to hatch eggs. Do you want her to? Do you have a rooster? If not, the eggs will not hatch and you will probably want to try to break her of her broodiness.

No rooster and we always take her eggs as soon as we find them, so not too long after laying

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Okay, this is a hormonal thing. She does not know the eggs won't hatch, but she could continue like this for weeks, losing weight and condition. Do you have a cage-type dog crate, or can you get hold of one?

 

[DobieLover]

Do you want to have her hatch fertile eggs or do you want to break her?
If you want to break her, do it quickly. The longer she is left broody the harder it is to break her.
Put her in an elevated wire dog crate with food and water and place the crate in a secure area of the coop, preferably in a high traffic zone. Leave her in the crate for 72 hours then let her out and observe. If she heads back to the nest box within 2 hours of being released, toss her back in for another 24 hours. Continue until she stays out of the nest boxes.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Yep. Broody chicken. Very normal. Her hormones are screaming HATCH EGGS! Broody chickens don't lay eggs. Being baby crazy does not require a rooster.

If you want her to hatch eggs you can put fertile ones underneath her and they'll hatch in about 20-22days. (Best to isolate the nest so other chickens can't get in if you can.) You may find some on craigslist or get some shipped. If you chose to hatch, make a plan for the chicks, ESPECIALLY extra roosters, even if it's just "give them away for free on craigslist".

If you DON'T want to hatch you'll want to "break" her brood. The best way to do this IMO is a dog crate on cinder blocks with a fine wire bottom, but any wire bottom cage works.

Here's my broody australorp getting broken. She went in every morning after getting let out, and put in the coop on the roost bar with her sisters every night because it's not safe for our chickens to be out in the run at night. If (ONLY IF!!!!!) you have a secure run, leaving her in the crate in the run is better. She is not permitted to roam with the flock until she lays an egg or is otherwise no longer behaving broody, whichever comes first 'cause she'll sneak back to the nest. If she tries to sit in the nest box? Still broody! Back into the broody buster with her.
The goal is to get air flowing underneath her so when she tries to sit like she's nesting it feels cool and breezy.

If you don't break her brood she may sit for MONTHS trying to hatch eggs and starving herself for babies that will never come so it's best to pick one or the other.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

You need to bring her body temp down. If your weather is warm you can start by giving her a cool bath, at least cooling her lower body parts, her breast and belly area. But if it's cool where you are, don't do that, you don't want to chill her. In either case, place her in a dog crate (cage type) with no bottom tray in it, preferably set up on bricks so it's off the ground. You want air to circulate under her. She should have food, grit and water, and ideally she should be able to see and hear the other chickens. You might put a 2x4 in with her so she has a "roost" to set on. You can leave her in there for three days to a week, and you can let her out once a day to poop and dust bathe if you want. When you let her out, if she goes straight back to the nest, she's not over her broodiness and needs to stay in the crate until she is. Note: a hen that goes broody is more likely to do it again. Good luck!

 

[JimmyShawns]

Okay, this is a hormonal thing. She does not know the eggs won't hatch, but she could continue like this for weeks, losing weight and condition. Do you have a cage-type dog crate, or can you get hold of one?

Yes, she was in it as a chick with the others

 

[JimmyShawns]

Yep. Broody chicken. Very normal. Her hormones are screaming HATCH EGGS! Broody chickens don't lay eggs. Being baby crazy does not require a rooster.

If you want her to hatch eggs you can put fertile ones underneath her and they'll hatch in about 20-22days. (Best to isolate the nest so other chickens can't get in if you can.) You may find some on craigslist or get some shipped. If you chose to hatch, make a plan for the chicks, ESPECIALLY extra roosters, even if it's just "give them away for free on craigslist".

If you DON'T want to hatch you'll want to "break" her brood. The best way to do this IMO is a dog crate on cinder blocks with a fine wire bottom, but any wire bottom cage works.
View attachment 2378520

Here's my broody australorp getting broken. She went in every morning after getting let out, and put in the coop on the roost bar with her sisters every night because it's not safe for our chickens to be out in the run at night. If (ONLY IF!!!!!) you have a secure run, leaving her in the crate in the run is better. She is not permitted to roam with the flock until she lays an egg or is otherwise no longer behaving broody, whichever comes first 'cause she'll sneak back to the nest. If she tries to sit in the nest box? Still broody! Back into the broody buster with her.
The goal is to get air flowing underneath her so when she tries to sit like she's nesting it feels cool and breezy.

If you don't break her brood she may sit for MONTHS trying to hatch eggs and starving herself for babies that will never come so it's best to pick one or the other.

Thank you

 

[aart]

Here's another broody breaker scenario:

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

I used to let them out a couple times a day, but now just once a day in the evening(you don't have to) 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. Or take her out of crate daily very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor after pic was taken.