Please, stop being broody!

[ChickenCat]

One by one, my girls are going broody. I have one in lock up, been in 3 full days and nights. She will not stop. I let her out this morning and she attacked the hen with chicks trying to steal them. Back in lockup she went. I have 2 hens hatched out. I have 2 more hens on eggs and tonight another one on eggs! who ever said hatchery hens "might" go broody?

I'vetried all the remedies and none have worked. I cannot keep all of these new mommas separated, even letting them free range isn't enough room. Anyone have a tried and true method to break these broodies???

 

[wren]

Have you tried putting them in individual all wire cages in a sunny sheltered spot for a few days?

 

[card5640]

I place mine in a wire bottomed rabbit cage with no bedding, usually 3 days and it works, I too have 3 broodies and are they ever mean, 5 hatched 3 weeks ago, 4 hatched yesterday and I got 12 meaties 1 week ago, I am packed too. But lovin it!

 

[Beekissed]

If all else fails, hold them upside down and dunk them a couple of times in a bucket of water, toss them out of the coop. This works for all but the really persistent, career broodies here.

 

[cajungal]

I've been though the samething with several of mine..The key is to keep them lock up for a week and that should do it!
Good Luck!

 

[azygous]

I highly recommend the psycho-broody wire cage treatment.

My GLW Irene recently went broody at one year of age. I've had experiences with psycho-broody behavior twice before, and was helpless to do anything other than wait it out until reading about the wire cage treatment.

I didn't have a wire cage, so I improvised with a milk crate and steal-mesh patio table. When I put Irene into the cage, she went into a literal rage. She rocked the milk crate, butting it, almost beating herself senseless trying to get out. My prior experiences didn't encounter such rage. I got some sturdy wood clamps and secured the milk crate to the table so this wild thing couldn't escape.

She had no bedding, and I tried to situate her so she got as much natural window light as possible. She got to sleep in darkness at night. She had food and water. At the end of the second day, she was broken. The test was returning her to the pen and waiting to see if she'd head for the nest box. While she still exhibited momentary bouts of the broody-hiccup, which is a clucking that sounds like the hiccups, and fleeting fits of bad temper, she never headed back to the nest. After a couple more days, she was her normal self and even began laying again.

If you haven't tried the wire cage, maybe it's time.