Oh no....I think I have a broody!

[blueberrychickens]

I think one of my GLW's has gone broody on me. She's been in the nest box for at least 5 hrs, & when I check on her, she growls & her neck feathers go up. I scrounged around under her, to much growling on her behalf, took away any eggs & golf balls. Noticed a big bald spot on her belly. She's only been laying eggs for about a month now. I don't see any obvious signs of illness or injury as she was bopping around w/ the other girls ystrday. Being totally new to chickens, I truly didn't think they would go broody in the winter time. Looks like maybe I'm wrong. I hope she's only broody & not sick. She'll be 6 month old in a few weeks. Is it normal to go broody so young? What can I do to break the broodiness?????

 

[ZooMummzy]

You bottle it up and send it my way

Lol I have 8 Serama eggs arriving today and both my broody hens have decided they no longer want to be broody!

Everyone has different ways of breaking broodiness, but the only thing I've ever found practical and easy for me is to just keep kicking them out of the nest and removing any and all eggs in their vicinity. I would give them a treat when I took them off the nest to distract them. It takes awhile and sometimes doesn't work, but it was a lot easier for me than the other methods. I know some people put them in a wire bottomed cage to cool them off.

But seriously, send it to me, I will be forever appreciative

 

[CoffeeCow]

my flock was hatched may 23, they started laying october 30, My BO went broody on December 2, I loaded her with 7 eggs on December 4, they should hatch out on Christmas day

as for breaking the broody, I have heard 1001 ways to do this, with varying success.I would start with taking away anything egg-shaped from her nest, and see what she does, after that, Idk what to tell you.
hopefully some of the senior chicken folks are on

you can sift through the 1001 ways to break her and choose one yourself

good luck.

 

[bills]

I had one hen go broody on me about that age. I simply removed her from the nest, closed the chicken door so she couldn't go back inside the coop to the nest box. She tried it again the next day, so I did the same thing. Problem solved by the end of that day, and she never did it again.

 

[Sandy16]

W had a BO hen (hatched in March) go broody at the beginning of October. Same symptoms...bare chest, clucking and resistant to leave the nest. We removed the eggs and kept moving her out of the nest boxes 4-5 times a day, making sure that she would eat and drink. It took about 6 weeks, but she finally broke. She is still skinny but I think that she is coming back to her former self. Good Luck!

 

[ourlittleflock]

I had a red cochin go broody about 2 weeks ago - I tried for a week to break her until last week I gave in a gave her 2 eggs.. I didn't want to hatch due to winter - but she wasn't leaving that nest!!!

 

[gryeyes]

"Oh, no, I think you have a broody - CONGRATULATIONS!"

Please don't break her of it!

Let her hatch, she can do it!

...just saying...

 

[Chick CJ]

If you can block access to the nesting box without a problem, that is if you don't have any other hens that need to get in there and lay, then blocking it off may be the answer or she may go find a place to lay in the yard somewhere that is equally comfy.

If you want to seriously break her the only way that has ever worked for me is to put her in a wire bottomed cage, (I usually have it sitting on bricks for good air flow underneath) with food and water. She will not lay down as it is not comfortable. She will pace back and forth all day long and sometimes squawk at you! At night, put her in the coop with the others, block off the nesting boxes so she can't get in there, but be sure to remove the block early in the morning for your other hens. Sometimes this works in a day or two, sometimes it takes up to a week depending on how serious they are about being broody. Also the longer they have been broody, the longer it seems to take to break the cycle. I have tried just letting them ride it out but have seen them go for weeks and for what? If there are no eggs to hatch I think it is a nice thing to do to help them snap out of it. It usually takes about two weeks for them to start laying after broody has been broken!

On the other hand, if you want to hatch some eggs, then go for it!

Good luck.
Cathryn

 

[blueberrychickens]

I'd love to be able to let her hatch some eggs, but I have no roo!! & I wouldn't want to have to worry about chicks out in the cold months of winter here in the north east. If she decides to go broody in the spring time,I'd be more than happy to stick either some chicks or some fertilized eggs under her & let her have a go at it.

I just hope the other 7 dont get the same idea & go broody too, my egg production was just getting started!

 

[Ridgerunner]

This might help

Break a Broody Thread
https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?pid=2176186#p2176186