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There are a few methods.I've had a hen go broody, any advice/ideas on how to break her? I've gone from getting 12 to 15 eggs a day from my girls, to 6. I've been trying ice packs under her but I think it's so hot here that she is enjoying it! LOL
Howdy!Welcome to BYC!
Continue with the ice pack or put her in a dog kennel slightly elevated without the tray for a day or two. If she continues to sit, put her back in!
Best wishes!!!
There are a few methods.
You need to take the eggs away (obvious but...)
You need to keep her out of sight of where she tried to sit on the eggs.
Putting her in a bare wire cage that is kept off the floor is another.
I put mine in my house which has cool concrete floors and at night I put them back on their perch.
The object of all the various methods is to lower her body temperature around the breast and upper stomach.
If you take her temperature in that area now, your looking for a couple of degrees centigrade drop.
Air circulation under the hen tends to lower the temperature more quickly than cold water or ice in my experience.
It takes about 3 days for the hens here to forget about sitting.
If you mean the pen as in a wire cage, then yes, 24/7.I've took the eggs the first day. Yesterday, there were no eggs. Of course, she is sitting in the most popular nest so that might be why the others aren't laying. Do I keep her in the pen all the time, night and day?
Good job aart. A picture is worth a thousand words.My experience goes 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 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.
I add a chunk of 2x4 on the floor to give a break to feet on wire floor.
View attachment 1516796
My experience goes 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 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.
I add a chunk of 2x4 on the floor to give a break to feet on wire floor.
View attachment 1516796
This is exactly what I did and it took only a couple days. I actually flipped the cage over to give her more support to walk on. I pull tied some wood along the bottom edge of the cage to lift it off the ground, and put an old lid to a rubbermaid tote on the top so the other chickens didn't sit on top of the cage and poop on her. I'd let her out when the others were ranging, AFTER I removed the eggs the others laid that day.My experience goes 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 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.
I add a chunk of 2x4 on the floor to give a break to feet on wire floor.
View attachment 1516796