My silly broody girl! HELP

[shellybean40]

I have my very first layer ever-a sweet bantam cochin. She has been laying a cute little egg almost every day for 3 weeks now, up until 4 days ago. She won't leave her nest, even to roost at night. She does eat and drink briefly, but goes back to her nest. The problem is, the eggs she is sitting on are FAKE. I left them in the nest for the other girls who have not laid yet. I tried removing the fake eggs, and she still sits. Last night I hid an ice pack under the bedding and put her back in the nest with the eggs, in hopes it would lower her temp. She rolled the fake eggs on the floor and sat on them all night!! Silly girl. I have not fertile eggs, nor do I want to deal with baby chicks right now. what should I do?? I am stuck with no eggs. and a silly girl who sits on fake eggs. Will she sit on them forever? Or will she finally give up?

 

[Bat Cave Silkies]

I have one Silkie hen who sat on shavings, in a nest box, for THREE months before she finally gave up.

I've tried every suggestion/remedy I can find to break a broody~~but nothing, but time, has ever worked.

Good luck

 

[JLS]

I had one broody who would not get off the nest. I kept taking her off the nest many times a day for 2 months. It didn't work. I tried a wire bottom cage. Nothing. I tried cold water baths. Nothing! Took her out of the box at night and put her on the roost to sleep. Nothing! So I finally locked her out of the coop during the day. I gave her water but I didn't give her food (during the day). She was forced to free range to gather food, therefore she couldn't brood. I kept her just beside the run where her sisters were. Again she was on the move walking beside the run, no time to brood.

At dusk I put her in the coop but not were she could get to the boxes - I kept her in my supply section. I gave her all the food she could possibly want to eat while she was getting ready for bed and in the AM before I put her out to free range. It took 2 weeks but she finally became her old self again.

It is not their fault, it's all due to hormones. So this was the most peaceful approach out of all of my efforts. She was busy and happy yet I was able to break her broodiness. My advice is to not wait. Du it sooner rather than later and make her as happy as possible while you do. I wish you the best!!

 

[shellybean40]

great idea, but my yard is not fenced, so I cannot free range all day unless I can sit and watch 24/7. Darn it! I think I will try the wire bottom cage idea and see if it works. She is so sweet, rolling those fake eggs under her. Makes me want to get some eggs for her to hatch.

 

[kano]

She is not silly. She is trying to follow what Mother Nature comands. It's not difficult to brake the broodiness. Put her in a small pen or rabit cage , plenty of ligth (water and food). And wait a few days.(3 to 7 ).

 

[sourland]

Leave her in the wire bottom cage until she stops being clucky. A short visit to the cage will accomplish nothing.

 

[lizardz]

Yes, definitely a wire-bottomed cage. Place it on a couple of 2x4s so it's raised a bit off the floor and no bedding! Food and water of course. It usually only takes 2-3 days for my broodys to get back to normal when I do this. I leave them in the coop, in the cage. They typically make a huge ruckus wanting out in the morning, but I keep them in because I've found they'll just go right back to being broody if you let them out to soon. Good luck. I hope your others start laying soon. BTW, very smart girl you have there, moving the eggs to avoid the ice pack

Liz

 

[moderndayhippy]

Quote:
I agree with this. I just dealt with a broody Buff and had to leave her in there for 48 hours straight. Make sure that there is no bedding (shavings) for her to sit on, and if one end has wooden flooring, like ours does, you will need to put her food and water at that end of the cage in order for her to be on the wire floor end.

My chicken was hardly eating or drinking anything due to not wanting to leave the nesting box, and began to molt as a result of it. It really scared me, for her health, so I did the rabbit hutch thing and now she is broken of her broodiness and is back to her regular old self.

I hope this helps.