Need reassurance

[Green Acres farmer]

I have two Bantam RIReds who are broody but, thankfully, not aggressive. I’ve gone through the normal steps and have had to resort to jail time in a dog kennel off the ground. They HATE it and I feel bad for them. I let them go in the coop to roost at night and they are getting picked on. One is missing almost all the feathers on her head. We just finished day two of their “sentence.” Am I doing the right thing? Will they regain their social standing once they quit acting weird? I need reassurance and/or advise please.

 

[SMorrison7k]

In my experience, all will settle down within a couple of days of reintegrating once broody behavior is broken.
Are they actually roosting in the coop when you are letting them in or are they trying to continue to set? I only ask because I have never let mine go back in the coop while breaking broody behavior...is that something I should be doing?

 

[rosemarythyme]

I don't let my broodies roost as they want to jump down and try to head back to the nest. They stay in the cage until they're broken, or unless I'm testing if they're broken. If I'm able to supervise they might get brief trips out to dust bathe, but as soon as they start looking toward the nest back in the box they go. This also prevents them from being picked on or from picking on the other chickens.

 

[aart]

I let my broodies out of breaker crate late in day, an hour or less before roost time.
If they go to roost they are 'broken'...
....if they go to nest, back into crate for another night and day.

They could get picked a bit more after being in breaker crate, especially if crate is not in coop or run amongst the flock. Roost time is prime time for squabbles. Tho the last broody I broke was a bit of a terror after being broken, she has started to calm a bit(?) it's only been a few days.

 

[Green Acres farmer]

I have two Bantam RIReds who are broody but, thankfully, not aggressive. I’ve gone through the normal steps and have had to resort to jail time in a dog kennel off the ground. They HATE it and I feel bad for them. I let them go in the coop to roost at night and they are getting picked on. One is missing almost all the feathers on her head. We just finished day two of their “sentence.” Am I doing the right thing? Will they regain their social standing once they quit acting weird? I need reassurance and/or advise please.

In my experience, all will settle down within a couple of days of reintegrating once broody behavior is broken.
Are they actually roosting in the coop when you are letting them in or are they trying to continue to set? I only ask because I have never let mine go back in the coop while breaking broody behavior...is that something I should be doing?

i let them back in at bedtime. They head straight for the roost. We use plastic dish pans for nesting boxes and take them out at night so they don’t try to use them. In the morning we open everything up, put the nesting boxes back in and feed all of them. If the broodies head for the boxes they go right back in the crate for the day. The crate is in their fenced-in yard, not the coop, so I haven’t been comfortable leaving them in it all night. Is it best to put the crate in the coop and leave them in day AND night?

 

[SMorrison7k]

i let them back in at bedtime. They head straight for the roost. We use plastic dish pans for nesting boxes and take them out at night so they don’t try to use them. In the morning we open everything up, put the nesting boxes back in and feed all of them. If the broodies head for the boxes they go right back in the crate for the day. The crate is in their fenced-in yard, not the coop, so I haven’t been comfortable leaving them in it all night. Is it best to put the crate in the coop and leave them in day AND night?

I typically cage them for about 48 hrs straight...and make sure the caged area is not comfortable.
Your hen box idea is pretty smart!

 

[Green Acres farmer]

Well, it’s been a few days since I let the girls out of their cage and they haven’t been broody. Next time this happens, I’ll try your advise of leaving them in the cage for 48 hours straight. The way I was doing it seemed to take longer than necessary. Thank you, everyone, for your help.