Problem with a broody

[Mountain Peeps]

I think that breaking a broody in general is cruel. Any method is hard on them. But in order to break them you have to be more stubborn then they are.

 

[krista74]

At the of the day it is in their best interests. I have heard of some poor birds sitting on a nest of no eggs, and slowly starving themselves to death. Breaking them is not fun for either party but I guess it's like with kids - sometimes you just have to do things 'for their own good' even if they don't understand it themselves at the time.

As I said, I don't really have an objection in hot weather to a quick dunk in cool water, but I did once read of someone who sat their bird in iced water, in Winter - for 20 minutes. That doesn't sit well with my conscience. At the end of the day though we are all chicken owners and I like to think that most of us have our bird's best interests at heart.

- Krista

 

[mymilliefleur]

I rarely break birds, since I use them to hatch most of my chicks, but when I have to, I put them in another pen that doesn't have a nest in it. that way they still have a large pen to roam in, but no were to sit. usually just moving them to an unfamiliar coop does the trick for me. I know this is probably hard for most people if you only have one pen, so the cage method is probably next best. I don't think you'll have to keep her in there for 6 days, 2-3 days usually does the trick. definitely give her some treats though. Heavy breeds like the specled Sussex usually break quicker then Games , silkies or other broody breeds.

Yes the 20 minute ice water soak that your describing Krista, sounds cruel. that can also be very dangerous this time of year especially.

Please keep us posted on how things go, mountain peeps.

 

[Spangled]

I rarely break birds, since I use them to hatch most of my chicks, but when I have to, I put them in another pen that doesn't have a nest in it. that way they still have a large pen to roam in, but no were to sit. usually just moving them to an unfamiliar coop does the trick for me. (emphasis mine)

Yes! This is a great way to do it and usually works. And with this method another older hen who's not laying can be put in with her in the alternate coop/pen for company. (Or a rooster if I need her for breeding.)

General comment: I have never had a hen starve herself while she is broody with no eggs beneath her. Mine always get off the nest and eat and drink. My hens seem to have a great sense of self-preservation. I like how I can count on that "winter broody" to keep the eggs underneath her from freezing; I see her as an asset in that respect. But, then, I am not currently in town with a limit of only 4 hens like some folks have, where every layer needs to be laying so that we can have eggs ourselves. Our hens have sat for more than three weeks w/o egg beneath them ... usually something like 5-6 weeks, but with short days and long nights of winter, their hormones usually get them back to laying fairly quickly. If we lighted the coop in winter and heated it, too, then we'd have more winter broodies and then we'd be breaking them.

 

[mymilliefleur]

Quote:
Same here. I have a ''test pen'' were I keep my extra rooster, and I rotate my hens through to see if their laying or not. if they are, I put them back with the main flock, if not, I leave them in the pen to see if they start laying, and if they never do, then I usually cull them in the fall. (I have a lot of birds, but I can't really afford to keep any unproductive birds.) No, I have never had a hen starve herself ether, and I have hatched chicks that way for more then ten years. That's how people did it for years, before the incubator became readily available. I have done it both ways, but for me, natural incubation is MUCH less stressful, so I am going back to doing it the old fashioned way.

 

[krista74]

..... I don't think you'll have to keep her in there for 6 days, 2-3 days usually does the trick. definitely give her some treats though. Heavy breeds like the specled Sussex usually break quicker then Games , silkies or other broody breeds.

I was surprised myself that it took so long. My girl is an RIR and to be honest I really expected it to be over more quickly than that.

The only thing I can put it down to is the weather at the time - we had a full week of temperatures over 100F, and even at night that only dipped to 80F. I can only assume it wasn't quite cool enough overnight to cool down her broody butt!

She probably had the coolest spot in the coop though, which might explain why she never fought me when I was putting her in there!

- Krista

 

[mymilliefleur]

I had a blue laced red wyandotte that was VERY determined to be broody. She just would not give it up. I finally let her have her way though, and gave her some eggs.

 

[Mountain Peeps]

Sorry to break up you guys' conversation but I wanted to give an update on Rosie. She is a little better today. I blocked the nests last night and forced her to sleep on the roost. She has been in the cage all morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[krista74]

Sorry to break up you guys' conversation but I wanted to give an update on Rosie. She is a little better today. I blocked the nests last night and forced her to sleep on the roost. She has been in the cage all morning.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sorry to monopolise your thread Mountain Peeps! It's so easy to get carried away when you're talking about something you find so interesting

I am so glad to hear your dear girl is making progress! If she slept on the roost for you that is a really positive sign. That was a fantastic idea, blocking access to the nests too. I did exactly the same thing with my girl. If you block off the nests there is really only one other place they can go - UP to roost! The cage is great for during the day though, as we can't really block access to the nests when there are other girls waiting around to lay!

It sounds like you have done everything right and things are really working for you. It will be lovely to have her back to her regular old self.

My best wishes to you,

- Krista

 

[mymilliefleur]

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X2.