need help...! broody?!?!?!?!

[ksct]

I think we may have a broody buff orpington.....
DH is home today and called me at work and said that the same hen has been in the same nest box since yesterday..... Our nest box set up is ->



So we can't really move her, plus we don't have anywhere to put her even if we could.....
What do we do?
I will wait to see if she's still there, I was thinking about waiting until tomorrow? I don't know. Can I take her out and will that make her stay out? DH said he has some thick gloves for me. I just don't want her to not eat etc........ I heard they can stay in there for a LONG time.

Someone please help....
THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!

ps- this is our first chickens EVER and we're new to all of this....

 

[joedie]

You can take her out but if she's broody she'll just keep getting back it. Assuming you have fertile eggs and do not want chicks, she needs to be put in a cage by herself like a small wire dog crate where she can't get comfortable sitting on eggs and has air movement under her butt. Leave her in there for 3-4 days with food/water. My BO's do this frequently and it's worked every time.

 

[tsasquatch]

Yes I had a BO, as well that went broody. She started laying about a month and a half ago, layed every day for a month. Then went broody all the sudden and wouldnt leave the nest and stopped laying, even though there were no eggs in the nest with her. Every day I just took her out of the nest and set her out in the run and I kept a low wattage light on in the coop 24-7. After a few days she was back to normal. ( I didnt even have to isolate her) About a week ago she started laying again, and only goes into the nest when she is about to lay. Hope this helps. Its not a sure thing, but it worked for me.

 

[ksct]

I really appreciate the advice and I will see how tonight goes and then I will be trying both ideas mentioned. I think I'll be borrowing my mom's little dog crate then too.

Can I use a small animal carrier (the kind that is not a wire cage) or is that not open enough?

Thanks again!

 

[BeardedLadyFarm]

I didn't want to be "mean" to my Cuckoo Marans hen, so I threw her off the nest about 100 times, and tried ice cubes in the box and everything. Nothing worked.

We were in a real cold snap, and I didn't want to put her on a wire cage, but finally after almost 3 weeks, and some weight loss on her part, I built a wire bottomed pen. It was pretty big, but nowhere to get cozy. Just a wire bottom and a perch. I let her out every 24 hours or so, and if she went back to the nest then I put her back in "prison." She gave up after about 48 hours.

I hope she goes broody later in spring because it would be fun to watch her with chicks but not now. It's not a good time for me, for her, or the chicks.

Your crate may work, but I'd worry that she will be able to keep her belly warm on the solid bottom, and that's what will keep her broody.

 

[ksct]

well i just asked my mom if i could borrow her wire dog crate. looks like if she doesn't give up, i'll be using it. darn. lol
i really appreciate the advice!