very broody hen won’t be broken!!!

[filmcmahon]

hello all. i have a year and three month old silkie hen who appears to be broody. she has been once before, in early spring, and keeping her out of her nesting box for a week seemed to fix her. this time, she is much more stubborn. her nesting box is kind of like a dog house style on ground level and i blocked it off for a week and she just lays outside it all day and pulls some of the hay out through a crack in the barricade. she doesn’t have her usual chirps, she grumbles and sounds angry when i pick her up to move her to the feed or do anything.
when i sit in the grass with her, she acts pretty normal. she walks around, sometimes chirps, but fluffs up a lot and digs randomly.

i have never seen her so bad, is this really broodiness? should i be more concerned? i have only had chickens for a year and three months.
i was thinking about doing the “chicken in a dog crate“ thing to break her but i don’t have access to one. i tried dips in cool water which help for 30 mins then she’s back to grumbling. does anyone have any suggestions?

(for reference, we moved her to a different coop and run this summer with some new silkie pullets, she was bullied in the other run with our standards. so she has not been broody in her new home yet. she doesn’t get along the greatest with the pullets. i don’t know if this has anything to do with it, just thought i’d give some context.)
the pic is her poop last night, not very broody looking poop like we had the last time.

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

I put my silkies in a wire dig crate that only has a food and water bowl in it. No creature comforts and usually 2 days they stop sometimes 3. After a week or so they start to lay again and after a clutch, the whole process starts again.

 

[filmcmahon]

I put my silkies in a wire dig crate that only has a food and water bowl in it. No creature comforts and usually 2 days they stop sometimes 3. After a week or so they start to lay again and after a clutch, the whole process starts again.

ok, maybe i’ll have to purchase one! thanks!

 

[MrFluffyandGirls]

ok, maybe i’ll have to purchase one! thanks!

You can take the trey on the bottom of the crate out and replace it with hard wire and sit the cage on bricks or something and the poop will fall through so it's less messy.

 

[filmcmahon]

You can take the trey on the bottom of the crate out and replace it with hard wire and sit the cage on bricks or something and the poop will fall through so it's less messy.

thanks so much!

 

[aart]

You can take the trey on the bottom of the crate out and replace it with hard wire and sit the cage on bricks or something and the poop will fall through so it's less messy.

Yes!!!
Like this:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/ar...rates-a-good-tool-for-every-chickeneer.72619/