Will this Work as a "Broody Buster"?

[hokankai]

We have our first broody BO and been almost a month so we're finally breaking her. Don't have a wire bottom cage and the dog crate has gone missing. What I did for now was take our dog pen, make a 2'x4' rectangle with it, and put cardboard on the floor and on top. It's in our shop on top of concrete, so the floor is cool. She's got food and water and no bedding.

This will be her second night in there. I took her out this morning to roam with the other girls and she didn't try to go back to the nest at all. Then I forgot about her and went out again and she was sitting on the nest. Ugh. So back in the pen she goes.

Will the pen be enough to break her? Or do I need air flowing under her for it to work?

 

[azygous]

My eight-month old cochin Morgan just got out of broody treatment. She's my third broody that I've dealt with that I didn't want to go broody, so I'm on to their tricks now.

I had Morgan in a cage with an open mesh bottom with no bedding and the natural air circulating under her. When I would let her out to stretch her legs and eat and rejoin the flock for awhile, she would hunker down on the sand in the corner of the segregated pen. So she was still getting the benefit of the protection of the ground under her to prolong her condition. It wasn't until I set up a fan under the broody cage to blow on her nether parts to cool them down that I saw some real progress. It took three days to break her.

Your broody is near the end of her spell, I'd guess. But just placing her on cardboard isn't going to do much to expedite things. You need air circulating under her.

My broody cage was a make-shift affair utilizing an open-mesh steel patio table and a milk crate placed over the broody and clamped to the table with wood-working clamps. It was barely big enough for her to turn around in, and I wish she'd had more room, but it did its job.

My aunt says that in the olden days, they'd just dunk the broody real fast in cold water and that would take care of the problem. I'd be reluctant to do that to any hen of mine, though. Good luck with yours!

 

[hokankai]

Hmm I was afraid of that. I thought their bum just had to be cool.

The weird thing is that when I go and check on her she isn't even laying down. She's usually standing up anyway. I just stuck her in the coop and she looked at the nest, but started scratching around instead and then left to go be with the other girls in the yard. Here's hoping it sticks

 

[azygous]

She's probably done.

Be ready next time with a better setup and get to the problem early. I watch the nests for possible broodies and pull the eggs out from under them. Sometimes that's enough to keep them from going all the way broody.

If they persist, I try to get them into the treatment cage by the second day. The previous broody was broken in just thirteen hours because I got her early on. This latest broody was starting on her second week, so I think that's why it took three days to break her.

 

[PatS]

We stick ours in a chain fence dog kennel (covered). Instead of a dog carrier that she might sleep in we put in some wood through the holes in the chain link for her to roost on. There is shelter from the weather with a tarp covering part of the run and roost. It still takes us a few days to break a broody, no matter how "far along" she is. Maybe our nights aren't as chilly as some folks'?

 

[hannakat]

As soon as I found out that one of our hens went broody, we placed her in about 5" of snow. Took her about 60 seconds of standing there in a daze! Then she stepped out of the snow, pooped and went to join her sisters. It was awesome to watch.

 

[azygous]

I like that approach! We have lots of snow here and it would be nice to have a good use for the annoying stuff! I'll give it a try next time I have a broody!