What do I do? I have to broody hen

[MartiHope]

I have year old hens (4of them). The leader of the pack, Coconut, has literally gone nuts! She seems to want a baby because she sits in one of thr nest boxes constantly on the eggs. We have to force her out if the box to get the eggs. She puffs up and runs around like she's crazy...I don't want any chicks (which is why there is no rooster), but will she always be like this? I feel so bad taking the eggs from her...will she snap out if it or be like this all the time? Its been going on for months. Help please!!!

 

[13ChickenGirl]

What u can do is buy a chick or two and slip them under her at night so she will wake up and think they hatched during the night. Once the chicks are a month u can give them away if you don't want them. That will snap her out of it.

Here is our silkie hen. At the time we had no firtle Roo so we bout two marans and slipped them under. First pic was at night second was the following morning.

 

[MartiHope]

Will she stay like this forever? Do I have to get her some hatch able eggs or slip in some babies under her???? I really want to have any more in my flock.

 

[Debbi H]

A couple of my girls get broody, too. Usually it only lasts a couple weeks or so. Because I wanted more in my flock, I did the same thing 13ChickenGirl said: buy a couple of chicks and slip them under her during the night. She will think they are hers and raised them. My one tiny English bantam hen gets broody the most and I give her chicks that become full-size hens. She knows no difference; she still thinks they are hers, and they think she is their mom. But if you don't want more chicks, just ignore it. The broody girls will get over it and start laying again.

 

[Pork Pie]

You can break a broody hen by keeping her in a crate, raised off the ground for 3-4 days. Just put food and water in the crate - no bedding.

 

[theoldchick]

I leave my broodies alone. I have three of them right now and they have all decided to brood in the same box. I have 16 nest boxes and apparently that one is the best. Previously when I had one broody, I tried putting chicks under one and later on that day I found her trying to eat them. Since then I simply leave them alone.

 

[bobbi-j]

Will she stay like this forever? Do I have to get her some hatch able eggs or slip in some babies under her???? I really want to have any more in my flock.

No, she will not stay broody forever. The quickest way to break a broody is to put her in a wire crate for several days as suggested below. I didn't have one available the last time I tried breaking a broody, so I just kept removing her from the nest several times a day. It took about 3 weeks for her to give up. You do not have to give her chicks to break her - especially since you do not want more chickens.

You can break a broody hen by keeping her in a crate, raised off the ground for 3-4 days. Just put food and water in the crate - no bedding.

 

[aart]

If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[13ChickenGirl]

I have never tried the wire bottomed cage. The chicks have always been it for me. We sell the Roos and keep the hens.

 

[13ChickenGirl]

You can always sell the chicks once mamma starts laying.