trying to make hen broody

[Hoonta]

Ping Pong balls?

yes

 

[Redhead Rae]

It could be she knows the difference. Some hens will sit on anything, or nothing. I have a hen who was broody-ish and was sitting on the nest whenever there was eggs in it but would leave after I gathered the eggs. I put her in her own isolated 5'x5' run with a nesting tote and gave her fake ceramic eggs. She settled down a bit with the eggs not being taken from her, but kept laying her own eggs while she was sitting she would also get up for longer periods then I would like to see but she always went back to the nest after 30-45 min. But once I gave her real eggs, she settled in and stopped laying. I even had to start taking her off the nest once a day so she would eat and drink properly. She now has 10 beautiful 3 week old babies.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My guess is that the ping pong balls are so light they were scratched out of the nest when she was rearranging things to her liking.

 

[JedJackson]

My guess is that the ping pong balls are so light they were scratched out of the nest when she was rearranging things to her liking.

Yes, that is probably it. I was thinking regular tennis balls but I knew something had to be wrong with that.

 

[Hoonta]

It could be she knows the difference. Some hens will sit on anything, or nothing. I have a hen who was broody-ish and was sitting on the nest whenever there was eggs in it but would leave after I gathered the eggs. I put her in her own isolated 5'x5' run with a nesting tote and gave her fake ceramic eggs. She settled down a bit with the eggs not being taken from her, but kept laying her own eggs while she was sitting she would also get up for longer periods then I would like to see but she always went back to the nest after 30-45 min. But once I gave her real eggs, she settled in and stopped laying. I even had to start taking her off the nest once a day so she would eat and drink properly. She now has 10 beautiful 3 week old babies.

So if I want the hen to start to lay on the eggs she needs to be in a isolated area so she feel comfortable?

 

[MillersFarm]

So if I want the hen to start to lay on the eggs she needs to be in a isolated area so she feel comfortable?

No, Not at all I would NOT recommend doing this. Only If you know she is for-sure broody. If you isolate her from the rest of the chickens she will become depressed.

 

[ChickenOwner2313]

We've used glass eggs sometimes to help our hens start laying, but you can't really make a hen go broody. You really just have to wait for it to happen. One of our hens randomly went broody for the first time a couple of months ago. None of our other hens have ever gone broody except this one.

 

[Redhead Rae]

So if I want the hen to start to lay on the eggs she needs to be in a isolated area so she feel comfortable?

When I have a questionable broody, I put the 5'x5' PVC run I mentioned inside of the electric poultry netting paddock with the rest of the chickens. I leave her in there through the "testing" period to see if she is broody and through setting on the eggs. When the chicks are two weeks old, I start letting them out for a couple hours in the evening for longer periods until they are out of the 5'x5' after noon. They get their feed in the morning so they can eat unmolested by the rest of the flock. I need to make a chick food hut so they can eat but the older birds can't get to their feed.

 

[Hoonta]

ok thanks to everyone

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Don't blame the commercial hatchery. I bey if 100 of you bought chicks with dreams of deviled eggs dancing in your head and all your hatchery birds wanted to do was sit, that you would tell all your friends, "Don't buy chicks from XYZ Hatchery, I did and all they wanted to do was brood eggs, but not to lay any."