PLEASE HELP: Running Out of Options with Broody

[Ribh]

Good to hear! Hopefully you can break her. All good advice. Dunking in cold water can help.

We’ve had a broody we accidentally broke! we were getting chicks, she had been broody a couple of weeks, so we moved her to the brooder with a nest. We didn’t think to cover the wire top to keep the light low in there (covering half of the top where nest is located). So, the new location in brighter light, away from the flock broke that chicken pretty quickly - much to our disappointment.

recently, we’ve had a couple go intense broody. We don’t need a broody, so we take them to a separate pen, in sight of the run, but not next to it, not adjoining. We give them fresh food and water, with yummy seed filled scratch that even a broody has a hard time resisting. Usually they eat and drink and perk up. They go back to the coop at night, with nest boxes closed off. So far, a few days in the separate pen during the day, with fresh tempting food has helped the broodies snap out of it. They are not with their flock, but want to be. They are eating and drinking more than when they sit, so have more energy, they do not have a nest. So, it is several factors that act together to push them back to normalcy. Yours seems to be very stubborn, so hopefully you can get her back to normal health and activity!

This is like my method. I have Wyandotte bantams that are persistently broody all summer. At the 1st sign they go in the small prefab coop. The change of living arrangements & denial of access to their nesting box of choice usually does the trick. Unfortunately they do tend to go broody again fairly quickly but @ least this way they aren't losing tons of weight, have room to exercise & bok away to their hearts content & they aren't driving the rest of the girls crazy.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Ok, here's the latest!

Aster has spent the last couple of days in broody jail in my front bathroom. I have dunked her multiple times a day to keep that underside cool. I didn't use ice this time because of the dunking she was getting and the fact that she was indoors with the AC on.

I took her out this evening for foraging time with the flock. So far, so good! It's been about an hour, and so far all she's done is take a dust bath and peck around. The coop is wide open, as are the nest boxes (bc my other Silkie is broody now - big surprise).

Fingers crossed!

 

[Aunt Angus]

Just went in to close up shop for the night. Guess who's on the roost like a NORMAL chicken!!!!

 

[3KillerBs]

Just went in to close up shop for the night. Guess who's on the roost like a NORMAL chicken!!!!

I'll bet you're ready to turn cartwheels!

 

[aart]

Just went in to close up shop for the night. Guess who's on the roost like a NORMAL chicken!!!!

WooHoo!! I had one go to roost last night. She only took 4 days crated.

bc my other Silkie is broody now - big surprise

Whatcha gonna do about that one!

 

[Tclloyd0812]

Just went in to close up shop for the night. Guess who's on the roost like a NORMAL chicken!!!!

Yay!!! So happy to hear!

 

[ElizaMay]

You might consider worming your birds - I understand that hens can have horomones afftected by a parasite load, and of course can also cause weight and condition loss. It can't hurt to consider. I just did my flock with water-soluble fenbendazole today, as one of my bantams was crazy broody and the day after I got the broody broken she stood in front of me and plopped out a 2" roundworm ack!