How to Break a Broody Hen

[critterkeeper25]

We have a Buff Orpington hen that has been going broody about once a month since early spring.

A couple days in broody jail usually takes care of that. Sometimes she snaps out of it just by continuously taking her out of the next box and putting her out with the others when they are eating their scratch. I have noticed that once in a while a RIR hen, that seems to be on the top of the pecking order, will come over to her if she is sitting on the ground puffed up after I take her out of the nest box and will peck at her. Sometimes after I chase the RIR hen away and the BO hen joins the group, the RIR hen will run over to her and peck at her some more. Once in a while, the BO hen will chase her back and then they will stand there sizing one another up for a few seconds and then go about their normal business. Maybe the others view the broodiness as strange behavior, maybe a weakness? After all, they will peck one of their own to death if it is bleeding, so I guess they would attack one if they think it is sick or acting weird? Kind of like kids bullying another that is different or disabled. OHHH! How I hate that kind of behavior, even in animals! I know that it's just nature...but still...

 

[Ardj]

Is it normal for a broody hen to be more picked on?  I had a hen go broody that spent most of last year broody to the point that the broody box did not work at all or she would become broody again within 2 weeks.  I would force her out of the nest box at least once a day and lock the coop for an hour or so to encourage her to forage, eat, drink and poop.  No change in dynamics last year from the group ( total), they all seemed to get along.

This year she is cranky and fluffed up for about 2 weeks before she decides to go true broody.  I do the same as last year but when I let her out the other hens attack her.  I found that if I got her out first and then let the others out it was not as bad but she was completely excluded from the group.  I finally put her in the broody box and 4 days later she is her normal self.  They are not attacking her as much but she still is more on the outside of the group and you can see the others giving her the "hairy" eye ball look if she gets to close.

Anyone else see this?

Marci

I have the same problem. I just broke my hen two days in a cage and she stopped going to the nest and she is not fluffed anymore but she looks shy and other hen is attacking her from time to time. My poor little girl. I hope that will stop soon.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

The dynamics of a chicken flock are a lot like those of a junior high gym class. Anyone who appears different will be targeted. Even hens that were once an accepted member of the flock might be targeted when they return after even a brief absence.

IMO if a hen is frequently going broody, having to spend multiple sessions in a broody buster cage each season, then perhaps she should either be allowed to set or traded to someone else who needs a reliable broody hen. Here is what I wrote in another thread: https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/675136/when-not-to-break-a-broody-hen

 

[Littlebird75]

So, can I just use a dog crate? i have a 15 pound dog who would love to let me use it for the broody hen. I don't really want to buy a new wire cage but want to make sure I do the right thing. I read some of the replies but didn't want to sift through all 75 pages of them....Help?

 

[Ardj]

That's exactly what i used. A dog cage. Worked perfectly. It's big and roomy. Plenty of space for hen to move around.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

I've had the best success with a wire-bottomed cage set up on blocks or sawhorses so that there is a nice air flow up underneath their breast. I try to create the opposite environment they want for brooding. Bright light rather than shade, no bedding rather than a cozy nest, cool air up under their breast rather than moist heat.

If you don't have anything else you could try a dog crate (do you mean a plastic carrier or a wire cage?) Try to make it as bright & airy as you can.

 

[bruceha2000]

Yes, if it is a wire crate rather than a large plastic carrier, it would be dandy. But you do want to take the tray out of the bottom so the air can get up under the bird like Sunny Side Up mentioned. Depending on the size of the openings, you might need to line it with hardware cloth or chicken wire so the bird has something to stand on.

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

I know this isn't how most people recommend. But I wanted to add my two cents worth.

I use a wire dog crate in the garage. I leave in the plastic bottom and lay down a lining of paper towels or something to catch the "boom-boom" and I put in a big wooden block for her to perch on. I have 9lb Buff Orpingtons and just didn't feel right having them stand on wire.

There's food and water in there and because the bird is so big, there's really no place for her to settle. She can stand on the towel to eat and drink or stand on the block of wood.

Three days usually does the trick.

I do crack open both garage doors and get a nice breeze moving through there.

I've done this method countless times for two years and it's always worked.

 

[jeanetteiacovon]

It seems I've been answering this question a lot lately, so I thought I'd write it all up to better show up in a search on the subject.  Please feel free to add your wisdom to the topic.


A hen "goes broody" when she wants to set continuously on a clutch of eggs for 21 days and have chicks hatch out.  Some hens will never go broody, some will go occasionally, some go very frequently, even weeks after leaving their last batch of chicks.  It's difficult to "make" a hen go broody, this mood is determined by her own instincts, hormones, voices in her head, instructions beamed down from her Mother Ship. 


The best way to tell a hen has gone broody is when she wants to stay in her nest spot at night instead of going up to the roost to sleep.  She'll puff her feathers out, flatten her body over the eggs, growl or shriek if disturbed, and often peck or bite any hand that dares come close.  She may be setting on real eggs, fake eggs, golf balls, or imaginary eggs, it doesn't matter, they're important to her.


Of course you can allow her to incubate the eggs she's collected, or swap them for other fertile eggs from your own flock or someone else's.  How to do that would be the topic of a different thread.  This is about what to do if you want to break your Broody's mood and get her back to the work of laying eggs.


I don't think it breaks a hen's heart to break her broody mood.  You have to give her points for being determined, but really, her mood can be adjusted without doing mental or emotional damage to her.  Some hens are easier to refocus than others. 


With some hens, all they need is a few times of being physically removed from the nest and carried out to the yard where their flockmates are ranging.  A little bribe of cracked corn will help them see the benefits of not brooding. 


Other hens may need a different treatment.  The best way I know to break a determined broody hen is to confine her to a wire-bottomed cage, like a rabbit or parrot cage, and place that cage up on sawhorses, blocks, or hang it from the rafters, so that air can flow up underneath.  Provide food and water, but NO bedding.  Keep her in there for 3-4 days, unless she lays an egg earlier. 


Let her out one morning and watch what she does.  If she hurries back to the nest spot, she'll need a few more days in the Broody Buster.  But if she goes back to hang out with her flockmates, her mood has changed.

Repeat whenever necessary.  broody? /img/smilies/D.gifnot broody!

that sounds like solitary confinement in jail and very harsh. I would just take all the eggs and make her nest box uncomfortable like a flash light so it is not so dark and cozy or put something in her favorite box so she can not get in it. I did this nine years ago with my sons basket ball, she moved to diff boxes and the ball followed and she gave up after about a week. But confining her to an uncomfortable cage that would most likely scare her I think is very cruel. I am sorry. Just my opinion.

 

[donrae]

that sounds like solitary confinement in jail and very harsh. I would just take all the eggs and make her nest box uncomfortable like a flash light so it is not so dark and cozy or put something in her favorite box so she can not get in it. I did this nine years ago with my sons basket ball, she moved to diff boxes and the ball followed and she gave up after about a week. But confining her to an uncomfortable cage that would most likely scare her I think is very cruel. I am sorry. Just my opinion.

How is putting her in a cage any different than what she's doing to herself? She's staying on the nest, not interacting with the other hens while she's broody. I never understand folks saying it's harsh. sounds like her social life is the same, just the geography is different.