Stubborn broody hen is shaking

[Omelette-in-progress]

Hello, My 8 month frizzle Pekin bantam has been broody for around 2 and a half weeks now (Possibly more as we were on holiday) and although I have so far tried...

• Removing all bedding from nest box
• Putting ice bricks (covered) in the nest box
• Both of the above simultaniously
• Repeatedly removing her from the box and adding new toys in the run to distract her
• Locking the coop during the day
• Dunking her in cool water
• Carrying her around for a while

She is STILL broody.

So now I am making a broody breaker for her, to try and finally snap her out of it. But I can't use it for another week as I am going away again...

But when I have been taking her out I've noticed that she shakes when you remove her, and her whole body trembles as if vibrating, or as if she was cold? If I hold her for a while, then it calms down, and goes away, but more recently it has got a lot worse and I'm worried that it might not be just a broody thing...

Has anyone had this before, or is there something wrong with her?
Also, today when I checked on her her crop was hard, barely movable... great... I massaged it to try and get it moving, is this a broody thing? (it was around 6 o clock in the evening)

I apoligise for the essay, any suggestions?

 

[azygous]

Please forgive me in advance as I sometimes come across as harsh when I'm just being direct. You are going about it all wrong, and a hen that's been broody for three weeks is going to be weak and disoriented as 21 days is the length of time that a broody takes to hatch eggs. Any longer than three weeks, and you can very well have a very sick and dangerously weak chicken.

To break a broody, you need to accomplish two things, and this is done most successfully in the first three days of going broody. One is to lower her body temperature to reduce her broody hormones. This is done to deprive her of any flat or bedded surface that would permit her to maintain this body heat. The second is to keep her caged to prevent her from heading for a nest.

We use an open mesh bottom cage for this as it allows cool air to consistently circulate under her, causing the hormones to dwindle. We do not let the hen out at night as even roosting will cause her body heat to be reflected back from the perch, and this maintains her broody hormones. If you get the broody into the broody cage in the first two days, it will take about three days to fully break her. The longer you wait to start breaking her hormones, the longer it will take to break her.

Dunking her in cold water or placing ice packs under her in the nest are old wive's tales and will not work, and dunking is dangerous on top of it. Your hen likely has crop stasis from two weeks of starving herself. Even a broody that we permit to sit eggs will often need us to pull her off the nest once a day to make her eat and poop and dirt bathe to keep up minimal grooming.

If you do get a broody cage set up, you need to be around, not away on a trip. She will need to let out of the cage to poop and dirt bathe under direct supervision so she doesn't run into a nest. If you can't be there, someone has to assume this responsibility in your absence.

 

[Omelette-in-progress]

Thank you for the reply,
I understand that using the cage as soon as she went broody would have been the best option, but I was unwilling to at first as I had broken her in a short amount of time before without needing to, and had heard of people doing the same.

How can I check if it is crop stasis? Should I check before she goes out for food tommorow morning?

Also, to clarify, I wasn't planning on going away with her in the cage, I don't want to put that responsibility on top of caring for them for the people who are going to keep an eye on them when they go away.
And she is eating and drinking during the day, she is not completely starving herself.

 

[azygous]

Crop stasis occurs when not enough food is moving through the chicken to keep the contents from turning yeasty. Usually, resuming eating will fix it. If it persists, then miconazole (women's vaginal yeast cream) treatment will be necessary.