Setting hen

[jubylives]

I have a hen that is setting. I have no roo so none of the eggs are fertile. What should I or can I do for her? How long will she sit there for?

jeremy

 

[Mahonri]

You either need to break her of her broodiness by locking her in a small wire cage for a week, with just food and water... some suggest a cold bath and being locked away from the nest box where she was broody.

Or you could do like we will this week. Our Partridge Rock just went broody so we are going to get some fertile eggs to put under her. I may have to order them from out of state.

 

[swtangel321]

order her some fertile eggs !!!! Or let her set on golf balls for 20ish days and then slip some chicks under her.

 

[jubylives]

Ah. She's been sitting on some ceramic eggs I use to direct where they lay. I removed them. I have no intention of having anymore chickens although I have two coming from somewhere here in town that can't have them anymore. So if I give her the eggs back she will stay sitting for 20ish days or should I lock her up? I built on the coop an area for quarentine maybe I should use that?


jeremy

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Then break her broody spell asap. The time that will take depends on the nature of that particular hen. Some will change their minds in a day or two, others take longer. Put her in a wire-bottomed cage (like a rabbit cage) set up on blocks or sawhorses, so she gets air up underneath her. It's all right if she can still see & hear her flock-mates, though she should be where she cannot see her nest site. Provide food & water in the cage. Let her out in a couple of days & observe her behavior. If she hurries back to the nest, return her to the cage. If she resumes her previous non-broody behavior, then her spell has been broken.

Some hens get broody again within a few weeks, others may never go broody again. What breed is this hen?

 

[jubylives]

Thanks for the replies. I can't remember her breed but she is all black with black feet. Her feathers have a greenish tint to them.


jeremy

 

[skeeter]

dont let her get chilled I know that Iowa winter can get real cold,I kepted my broody hen in a big plastic (WALMART) box with screen over the top,on my enclosed porch just took a few days and she stopped clucking,then I let her back with the rest and it didnt take long and she was laying again

 

[CarlaRiggs]

She sounds like an Austrolorp. They can be very good mothers.

Carla

 

[dancingbear]

Don't do the cold bath thing this time of year. Even in summer, I don't like the idea. I tried that with a couple of mine before and it didn't help anyway. Just made the hens not want to be handled anymore. My hens had already hatched several clutches, and it was getting late in the year or I would have just put some more eggs under them.

I put mine in a separate pen with food and water, and a roost, but no boxes or anything to get behind or into to make a nest. It only took a few days before she was acting normal again.

A wire bottom cage is good, but only in a heated area, so she won't get too cold. Lower body temp will help, but not to the point of letting her get chilled. You don't want to kill your hen!

She does sound like she may be an Australorp. Maybe later you could trade her for a breed that doesn't go broody, if you don't want more chickens. You could be fighting broodiness in her pretty often. You can't change her basic instincts or hereditary hormone cycles. Maybe you can find somebody with non-broodies who wants to hatch chicks. I see posts all the time from folks wanting to make a hen brood, or get one to stop. Better to just get the breeds that are right for you, that naturally do what you want them for.

 

[jubylives]

australorp. Yea that's her. I like her she's real pretty so I will just deal with the broodiness. When I added on to my coop I built a 3X6 foot addition that is seperate from the main coop that was initailly intended for my call ducks but I changed my mind and revamped it to use for quarentine in case something was to happen ie an injury or sickness. I'll put here in there for now and see what happens. There's a roost but no box of any kind in there. Thanks for the help.

Oh and I won't be doing the bath idea as it is 10 degrees F outside right now and it's supposed to get down to -7F tonight. God I hate winter!

jeremy