Official BYC Poll: What Do You Do With Broody Hens?

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

Get them a therapist

 

[HumbleAmerican]

Get them a therapist View attachment 2905051

Are they both claiming one clutch of eggs!??

Poor chicken wrangler dealing with that one!

 

[Laura_BelgianBantams_63]

Are they both claiming one clutch of eggs!??

Poor chicken wrangler dealing with that one!

SLW thought the black bantam was a baby. And so did the bantam! Whenever SLW did the broody cluck that translates to: "Come over here, I found food", The bantam would come over and eat the food!!

 

[Silexian]

It depends on the timing. I always separate them into one of my broody huts. If they sit tight and I have newly hatched chicks. I will offer them some. I have had some reject chicks. I have a Red Quill game hen that will jump off the nest a fight me for chicks. As soon as she hears them peeping. If I don’t have chicks. I wait about a week after placing them in their hut. If they are still sitting tight. I will give them some eggs. If after moving they decide not to sit on a nest. I will place them to their own small coop until they quit puffing up and stop the broody clucking.

 

[SueT]

I learned from BYC to break the broodiness by putting the hen in a wire bottom cage for at least 2 days and nights, sometimes it takes 3. My broody cages are in our basement where it is cooler than the outdoors. If the weather is really hot I set up a little fan to help cool them off.
In 2 days, I put them back in the flock, if they go back to the nest, it’s back to broody jail for another night.

The sooner you break them, the sooner they go back to laying.

 

[RubelliteRose]

Sadly, I currently have no broody hens. The one pullet I have who is "very likely" to go broody hasn't started laying yet. The other one I ordered this spring, didn't make it through her first night. But I also don't currently have a rooster capable of fertilizing eggs. Both of the boys I received this spring developed scissor beak and had to be culled. My current boy is only 12 weeks old and isn't interested in girls yet
Hopefully next year I will have both a broody hen and fertile eggs, so I will keep reading to see how everyone manages their broodies

 

[All4Eggz]

Depending on the time of year and whether we want more chicks, sometimes we let them hatch the chicks, sometimes we let them hatch chicks for somebody else, and sometimes we have to break them.
With a large flock like mine, you can expect a broody hen at least every couple of weeks. Sometimes if they are so persistent, we let them hatch like 3 or 4 chicks to make them happy

 

[All4Eggz]

Depending on the time of year and whether we want more chicks, sometimes we let them hatch the chicks, sometimes we let them hatch chicks for somebody else, and sometimes we have to break them.
With a large flock like mine, you can expect a broody hen at least every couple of weeks . Sometimes if they are too hard to break, we let them hatch like 3 or 4 eggs to make them happy

 

[6BeachChicks]

Well, mine puff up in the nest after they lay an egg, then they go broody. They did it every single day in the summer, but I’ve never had one stay in the nest overnight. They get off the nest really fast if I bring treats. Maybe if they get dedicated then I will put some chicks under them. Oh, and tiny will take care of anyone, even her sister who is bigger then her. It was hot in the coop, that’s why Tillie was panting.

We have no rooster.

 

[DaisyG2317]

This year was my first time with a broody. I have 4 Isa Browns so I was a little surprised. I relented after 3 weeks of her constantly sitting and gave her 4 day olds from my local farm store.

Mama is at the bottom of pecking order and long story short one of her babies was killed by my other hens. We ended up moving her and the remaining babies to another coop.

One of her babies also turned out to be a Sapphire Gem rooster