How to Break a Broody Hen

[bruceha2000]

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.

It isn't punishment, it is a way to cool them off underneath and speed up the hormone changes. They are not scared in the cage, at least not here since it is in the coop and up on the roost bars. They can see their normal surroundings and are still sleeping with their flock mates. No solitary for them.

I don't know how many hours you spent moving the basketball and keeping her out of all the nest but most don't have that kind of time. Isn't it more cruel to keep tossing a brooding hen out of the nest just so she can go back in when your back is turned? My broodies will sit in a nest day and night for days and probably weeks if I let them. No flashlight is going to make it uncomfortable enough for them to leave. And again, isn't THAT more like torture in solitary than a cage with food and water in their normal environment?

My buster is made of 1/2" hardware cloth so it isn't uncomfortable for them to stand on. I wouldn't use wire fencing with larger spacing.

 

[jeanetteiacovon]

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.

no you are making her uncomfortable like you are punishing her. She would have no sence of being secure and she would be stressed. Just stop her from going in that nest she can have everything else. Chickens feel safe in numbers. Mine get stressed when I change something but completely removing them from the life they know is punishment for having instinks, I am sorry that is just the way I feel. You can get the same response from her and not be so drastic. I think she would be very stressed by getting locked in a tiny cage with no sense of security with no real bottom, top or walls for a sence of security. I am not judging just trying to give other options that maybe are not so harsh.

 

[jeanetteiacovon]

It isn't punishment, it is a way to cool them off underneath and speed up the hormone changes. They are not scared in the cage, at least not here since it is in the coop and up on the roost bars. They can see their normal surroundings and are still sleeping with their flock mates. No solitary for them.

I don't know how many hours you spent moving the basketball and keeping her out of all the nest but most don't have that kind of time. Isn't it more cruel to keep tossing a brooding hen out of the nest just so she can go back in when your back is turned? My broodies will sit in a nest day and night for days and probably weeks if I let them. No flashlight is going to make it uncomfortable enough for them to leave. And again, isn't THAT more like torture in solitary than a cage with food and water in their normal environment?

My buster is made of 1/2" hardware cloth so it isn't uncomfortable for them to stand on. I wouldn't use wire fencing with larger spacing.

my hens had certain boxes they liked more then others. I do not have 20 boxes. Infact out of the 12 I had they used 2 of them. I would move the ball when I chrcked on them in the morning and at night. I guess I am more stubborn then they were. Anyway the hens wouldn t sit on empty nests so I kept collecting the eggs maybe they werent as bad then. I just think putting them in a cage for doing what a hen does is harsh and we can do other things then cage them.

 

[bruceha2000]

no you are making her uncomfortable like you are punishing her. She would have no sence of being secure and she would be stressed. Just stop her from going in that nest she can have everything else. Chickens feel safe in numbers. Mine get stressed when I change something but completely removing them from the life they know is punishment for having instinks, I am sorry that is just the way I feel. You can get the same response from her and not be so drastic. I think she would be very stressed by getting locked in a tiny cage with no sense of security with no real bottom, top or walls for a sence of security. I am not judging just trying to give other options that maybe are not so harsh.

You stick around the nests 24x7 for a week and keep the chicken out of the nest? You have more time and patience than I do. My guess is you have never seen a SERIOUS broody. They will not stay out of the nest on their own volition for even 5 minutes. They might eat, drink and poop when you toss them out but will make a mad dash back to the nest post haste. Keeping them out of the nest when they REALLY want to be in it is stress whether it is you blocking their path or they are in a cage where they can't get to the nest. I have tried the "humane" method you advocate and all I got was a chicken that was broody for weeks. They don't eat, they don't drink, they sit in the box "hatching" pine shavings.

And the safety in numbers thing. That was true when mine were little, they would ALL be together ALL the time. They will be 3 next week and it is not remotely unusual to see one here, two there, another one way over there. The only time they are routinely all together now is when they are in the coop at night. I WISH they would hang together more, perhaps I would still have the 2 that were taken by foxes (one this April, one last April).

And I will disagree with you on the cage (at least mine) being uncomfortable. It is ~ 18" wide, 18" tall and 36" long. If I forget to close the door when I don't have a broody, 3 or 4 girls will sleep in it together at night. And that includes the ones that have been put there in the past when they were broody. I seriously doubt they would do that if the floor was uncomfortable or the box felt insecure. The preferred sleeping spots in the coop are on the roost poles where they meet the 1/2" hardware covered opening on the south wall and against the hardware cloth covered broody box on the north end.

So which is more humane, letting them sit in a nest slowly starving while NOT hatching anything, or putting them in a safe environment where their bodies can cool off and their hormones can self adjust - naturally?

I doubt we are going to agree on this. Everyone needs to get as much info as they can and then do what is right for them.

 

[bruceha2000]

my hens had certain boxes they liked more then others. I do not have 20 boxes. Infact out of the 12 I had they used 2 of them. I would move the ball when I chrcked on them in the morning and at night. I guess I am more stubborn then they were. Anyway the hens wouldn t sit on empty nests so I kept collecting the eggs maybe they werent as bad then. I just think putting them in a cage for doing what a hen does is harsh and we can do other things then cage them.

Definitely didn't have any serious "problem" broodies then. Mine don't care if there is an egg (fake or real) or not in the nest when they are broody. Seems like yours might make good broodING hens though, since they want to sit on eggs and won't sit in an empty box.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Jeanetteiacovon, one of the great things about keeping chickens is that there are really so very many different methods that can work for all sorts of folks. I'm glad your basketball method worked to help break your broody hen's spell.

The way I keep my hens in a Broody Buster cage is not at all cruel, harsh, or uncomfortable. The cage is kept right in the pen with her home flock so that she can see & hear them the whole time, she can feel secure and not in distress. It is not too small to cause her discomfort, the wire bottom is firm & supportive, and there is even a roost for her to rest upon.

The idea is to create an environment the opposite of what they want to be broody. Light instead of shaded, airy instead of warm & moist, a roost instead of bedding. My hens usually stay in there 2-3 days before they're ready to return to their regularly scheduled programming.

If I thought it was unkind treatment I would NEVER put them in there. I think it is much more kind than letting them set on sterile eggs for weeks at a time. And when I have a hen who frequently goes broody I will set her with eggs to satisfy her strong broody instincts.

 

[Jakoda]

I have not read every post on this topic, so I apologize if I'm asking a question that's already been answered..I have 14 hens, none have ever gone broody, the oldest being 3 years old. However, I do have a 2 yr old orp, that I "think" is broody..She has NO eggs under her, she's sitting in a nesting box, acting like cujo if you go near her. This has been going on for about 3 days. She hasn't laid any eggs in this time, and again is not sitting on any..if i make her come out, she is quite cranky, eats well, drinks well, is all puffed up walking around like a ticked off chicken,,she has started a couple of squabbles with the others which is VERY unlike her..I see nothing 'physically' wrong with her, not eggbound, just staying on this "nest" and pulling a couple feathers out FOR that box..So would a chicken go broody even if they aren't sitting on any eggs???

 

[N F C]

I have not read every post on this topic, so I apologize if I'm asking a question that's already been answered..I have 14 hens, none have ever gone broody, the oldest being 3 years old. However, I do have a 2 yr old orp, that I "think" is broody..She has NO eggs under her, she's sitting in a nesting box, acting like cujo if you go near her. This has been going on for about 3 days. She hasn't laid any eggs in this time, and again is not sitting on any..if i make her come out, she is quite cranky, eats well, drinks well, is all puffed up walking around like a ticked off chicken,,she has started a couple of squabbles with the others which is VERY unlike her..I see nothing 'physically' wrong with her, not eggbound, just staying on this "nest" and pulling a couple feathers out FOR that box..So would a chicken go broody even if they aren't sitting on any eggs???

Oh yeah, you have yourself a broody!

 

[TheSpiceGirls]

Oh yeah, you have yourself a broody!

Yep. That's one Moody Broody alright.

 

[Sunny Side Up]

Orpingtons tend to be a broody breed. You could try to change her mind in a Broody Buster cage, it might be easy to adjust her attitude. But if you find that she keeps going back to being broody every few months or less you might either want to accommodate her mood or trade her to someone who wants a broody hen.