STOP BROODIES

[thechickman04]

i have 5 hens that went broody..i sell my eggs and i need all the eggs i can get to keep my customers happy...how can i stop these hens from being broody?

 

[Acre of Blessings]

All I can say is......have fun.

Or you could put a secret hatch in the box where the eggs roll out onto a tray. Worth a try.

 

[Wildsky]

I want to see the answers.....

I had one broody and she hatched out two little fluffy things.... then another one seemed to go broody - she sat on a nest all day and over night - but the next day when I opened up the run at lunch time - she SHOT out with all her buddies to dig in the dirt.. dunno what her problem is, but I need to know what to DO with her... I don't want any more fluffy things for a while!

 

[Pinenot]

To stop a broody hen, you need to get her belly cooled off. I place mine in a rabbit cage 2x2 wire cage and hang it so that there is air in all directions. A week of that and she won't be broody any longer. The only problem is when she goes to laying good again, she may go broody again. That is how we do it and it works for us.

 

[thechickman04]

thanks pinenot i will try it...they are not sitting on any eggs..i take them from them

 

[Pinenot]

They will still need their bellies cooled off. I have a silkie that sits even in her food bowl.

 

[dlhunicorn]

If you keep your chickens at a high production year round (so with the use of lighting in the winter) this overtaxes their system and is a factor in their need to "take a break" by going broody. Unless you have one of the genetically modern high producing breeds, allowing your birds periods of rest when they indicate they need it (i.e. they stop laying) will go a long way to keeping them happy and avoiding reproduction problems.

 

[okiehen]

More than likely even if you do get the hens broke up , your eggs will not come for sometime. The hens will probably go into molt then when that's over the eggs will return.
You can put ice under them.
Best of luck.

 

[thechickman04]

the chickens are only about 7 months old so i doubt they will molt yet

 

[Red]

Our broodies stop laying eggs for a good five or six weeks, sometimes longer depending on whether they hatch out any chicks or not.