how to break a broody hen with water

But I think she’s pulling feathers out of the other hen! If after a few tries and a few treats your broody lady is still determined to nest, try my next trick: the cold water bath. What a timely post! As always, use your best judgment. I’m glad it worked out! Others pop some frozen vegetables into the nest. Broody hens are the easiest way to add new chicks to your flock. Depending on how determined the hen is to set, one or more of the following measures may discourage her, a process known as breaking up the broody. The Sneaky Way to Water Your Houseplants (and Why They Love the Shower), What’s the First Sign of Spring For You? One of the chooks I think is older than the other 2 (I think the 2 are 1 yr layers & the other is a 2 year layer) & she seems to have taken a huge dislike to 1 of the younger chooks (the one that has hatched 2 ducklings)…thank goodness the ‘mother’ is separated atm, as the older chook will just not let the younger one (only that hen) feed or drink, keeping a beady eye on what the younger one is doing & muscling in, pushing (literally) her out of the way, even pecking her…I’ve told the older one, repeatedly, that if she persists a. she’ll be for the pot(!) At one point or another, every backyard chicken-keeper needs to know this: How to Break a Broody Hen http://t.co/BmUY16Jhku #poultry. White scaly legs can also be a sign of scaly leg mites, in which case you need to treat your flock for parasites and disinfect the nest and coop before the infestation gets out of control. What can we do with dozens of baby chicks? Then let her out and – sure enough – when I followed her I found a nest full to the brim of her eggs (easy to know they were all hers because they are blue). A chicken jail can be a wire dog kennel, a rabbit hutch, or an enclosed pen (which some flock owners keep as “hospital pens” for quarantining sick hens or isolation pens for introducing new flock members). Broody behavior is unhealthy any time of the year, and in frigid temperatures when chickens must increase their feed and water intake to maintain body temperatures, broodiness is life-threatening. Any suggestions. This is when an easily preventable or treatable problem like mites and lice can turn fatal, as a broody hen will just sit and suffer in her nest. If your hen turns broody in the height of summer, a poorly designed or poorly ventilated chicken coop could cause the egg box to heat up too much, putting your hen at risk of heat exhaustion. Broody-Breaking Box Do you think she’s snapping out of it? She ate out of my hand again and ran after every mealworm I threw out. How do we get the other hens to use a different nest they have 4 nobody uses? The point is to make her feel as uncomfortable in the broody position as possible. I have removed all the eggs now, at least I know where they are going forward.. Cool not cold water is all that’s needed and anyone who has chickens know they go out in the rain quite happily even in cold weather in fact I think separating a chicken from her flock for days on end with nothing at all to do on an uncomfortable wire floor to be even more inhumane than a quick cool bath and back to her normal chicken life . So you have a broody, but she's not really hatching eggs, huh? or do we give the older chook away? Left unattended, a hen will stay broody for around 21 days, which is the time it takes to hatch a clutch of fertile eggs. It’s unlikely that a broody chicken will starve to death or die in the nest (after all, it’s part of her mama instinct: she won’t do her chicks-to-be any good if she starves herself to death). She raised a total ruckus in return! She’ll stop laying eggs the entire time she’s broody. She’ll ruffle her feathers, spread her wings, keep her body low, grumble at you, even peck at you — anything to protect her nest from the perceived threat against her real or imaginary eggs. I’m new to chickens, can you help me understand this behavior? Smelly. So, by lowering her temperature, we can naturally break chicken brooding. A small crate is efficient in breaking … However… I haven't had the heart to put her in isolation, so cold bath it is! Great idea. Learn how your comment data is processed. It took my chicken two-and-a-half days of chicken jail before I was able to break her broodiness. Now one hen has taken about 15 eggs and others are still laying eggs in her nest. This time of year, it’s also common for hens to stop or slow their laying because of the reduced daylight. . Presence of other broody hens:These social birds sometimes like to copy others. Some breeds are more prone to going broody, like silkies, Cochins, buff Orpingtons and Sussex. 1. They’ll usually pick up again in late winter or early spring. A broody breaker is simply a wired dog kennel elevated off the ground, generally with pavers or 2x4s. Broody hens will lose weight. They only leave the nest for short periods of time to eat, drink and poo. Q2. You want to distract her as much as possible with “shiny new things,” so to speak. One of the main reasons you’ll want to break a broody hen is because of lowered egg production. Broody hens are also at risk for getting mites and lice, because they stay in the nest all day where these infestations are common. A sheet of hardware cloth also works well for flooring. They are 8 or 9 months old. She has white, green, brown and chocolate eggs so she has adopted all the eggs she can get. Also, I feel so bad for her because she is wanting to be a Momma. Garden Betty is where I write about modern homesteading, farm-to-table cooking, and outdoor adventuring — all that encompass a life well-lived outdoors. She also started following her flock sisters around, which was when I knew she was “cured” — the flock’s super social, so it was a relief to see them scratching and flapping around together. Thank you so much. Even when there are no eggs to sit on, the hen doesn’t realize it. Thank you for the kind comment! Why Chickens? Hello! Well, this is the article for you! Q…Do we just put up with this & hope it sorts itself out? A broody hen does require a little bit of care though. You may also try setting a clutch of ice cubes in the nest box so … If by sweet, you mean hungry and bossy, yes, Iman is back to normal again. He was literally jumping from foot to foot, flapping wings, and making all the noise he could to tell me, “Look, we normally get along pretty well here, but you’re pushing it with this.”. It’s not super aggressive, just a little each night, it seems, because most of the feathers I find are in their roosting box. She’ll simply sit and sit, refusing food and water, barely moving from her nest. Broody hens will generally stop laying once they’ve laid a clutch of eggs to sit on. Chickens go broody during the warm months when the feathers won’t be missed and molt in the fall, growing in a new feather coat before the temps drop. After two days of just purely removing her from the nesting box to no avail it was straight to jail! Your blog is always so informative and fun to watch, it’s like a breath of fresh air on a writing form. (I keep a large bowl in the kitchen as my countertop compost, and empty it every day in the chicken run.). They are around 6 months old. Unless your chicken has fertile eggs to hatch, you don't want her to stay broody for weeks on end. ), so we bought 3 duck (Muscovy ducks) eggs for her to sit on…2 hatched & are now HUGE!! My skyline has just hopefully completed her broody rehab successfully! How Long Does a Chicken Stay Broody? These are not humane options, and they won’t work. Justin also says that you can check if your hens are broody by reaching towards them. I hope you’re able to find them good homes if you don’t keep (or cull) them. Another method is to place frozen peas or ice cubes underneath her. It may not display this or other websites correctly. When broodiness goes on for an excessive amount of time, it makes the hen more susceptible to respiratory infections and other diseases because she’ll be too weak to deal with any illness she’s exposed to. When & how do we separate the ducklings from their mama hen? When I moved her, there was no eggs! It switches on as soon as they’re old enough to lay, between five and eight months old. A few weeks ago, my husband Will told me that he thought he’d seen a rotten egg in the chicken run, but didn’t know how long it had been there. If she runs immediately to the egg box, back into chicken jail she goes. cold water bath. She’ll leave the nest only a couple of times a day to relieve herself, which often results in those big, stinky poops because she’s been holding them in all day. How to Break a Broody Hen http://t.co/VugeuLgFTj #poultry, Blogged on Garden Betty: How to Break a Broody Hen http://t.co/MxaTh6iHiN. Now the other 2 have gone broody (1st the 2nd, then the 3rd! Too Broody to Break? ), You only need enough water to cover her chest when she sits. Today she seemed more back to herself. . Whether you rely on your hen’s eggs for your livelihood, or you simply love the taste of them, a broody hen isn’t exactly ideal. The cold helps to trigger a break in the broodiness. It’s fascinating how a usually sweet, docile hen will suddenly turn Cruella once her hormones start surging! These days I do just that, since I know I can’t break my hen (the only one who turns broody around the same time every year) with the other methods. Fortunately, my sweet Goldie returned to normal behavior rapidly with much less extreme measures. Fill a sink or wash tub with a few inches of cold water and gently lower the chicken into the bath. 24 hours later she emerged a different girl and touch wood isn’t showing any broody signs at all – except for not laying, which she has the upper hand on! This post updated from an article that originally appeared on June 12, 2014. Easiest ways to sex your chickens when they’re young. But keep an eye on her throughout the day, as I actually did find my chicken back in the egg box that afternoon. If they come near her, she might peck at them or screech at them. Some sources say to confine a broody hen to a wire bottomed cage for 3-4 days with only food and drink provided. Not inhumane at all!! This seemed drastic and inhumane to me, but might be required for a very hard headed hen. Yes, there are still 2 laying so I guess they will find another spot in the chicken run to lay their eggs. I’m not sure if she is truly broody or not….we live in northern New Mexico where it has froze a few nights here, nothing extreme, so maybe it’s just the season? We have 19 hens and 5 roosters but they only put eggs in two nest. Make sure you collect all of their eggs at least once or twice a day, and try to lure them out with treats if you find them spending too much time in the nest. I would try chicken jail during the day only, let her roost at night, then move her back in jail in the morning. By that time, it’ll usually be dark enough that she won’t be able to make her way back to the box. Any advice for her to be happy and her old self? I call this period of her life “Chicken PMS.”. Just make sure they continue to eat, drink, and socialize, and watch for that first egg to pop out! Ideally, the kennel should be elevated on wooden beams, cinder blocks, small crates, or anything that’s safe and stable and will provide plenty of air flow under and around the chicken as she sits. If you don’t have a frozen water bottle, you can dip her bottom into cold water. It took about three days of total isolation in the dog crate to get her to “snap out” of it, but she seems to be back to her old self, just mingling and pecking with the other eleven hens! Do keep an eye on her and make sure she doesn’t retreat to her nest again. Hello, I have a Buff Orpington (Patty) that went broody last month and is now doing it again this month. First of all 1 was broody (thanks guys! Chicken jail sounds fine but how do I “jail” six? Thank you Linda! That is INHUMANE. Hi…I have 2 questions, 1 of which is definitely unrelated & the other is kind of unrelated to this topic!…We are very new to chickens, having just a couple of months or so ago bought 3 Plymouth Barred Rock chooks (something I have wanted to do for 20+ years!) Now that we know all the signs and reasons for a hen to go broody, here are some tips on how to stop a hen from being broody. Hi there, your article is very informative. Now three have hatched and we are putting them in a smaller hen house away from the grown fowl. She will be cooled off and trundle off … How many eggs can she hatch? I am not around all day to monitor when the two lay their eggs to then lock out all the rest. Some people say that the cage has to have a wire floor and to hang it somewhere cool and drafty, however I have not found I needed to do either of those things. If she starts scratching the ground and interacting with the other chickens, success! LOL… mine turns into a little terror if the other (non-broody) hen tries to invade her space or eat “her” treats. (Please use common sense if you live someplace with freezing cold tap water, like I do in Oregon, and turn the faucet to refreshingly cool water instead. It offers protection from predators but still feels social, as my other chickens like to hang around it. Can’t wait for the eggs to start coming again. We have a sweet hen and she had been laying eggs up until 3 days ago when she started having these broody behaviors. Does every hen stay broody for 21 days? You want your chicken to be uncomfortable, but you don’t want her to hurt herself. Eggs or no eggs she just sits and does not lay. The theory here is that you’re helping cool down her chest and her vent, thereby lowering her broody body temperature. She hadn’t laid an egg all week, which led me to believe that our gal had just turned broody again. After months of having three of my eight layers being broody most of the time and only getting 2-6 eggs a day, I am starting my chicken jail program. If there are eggs in the nest, collect them right away so she can’t continue sitting on them. It had been a few hours since Will had gone down there and reported her sitting in the nest. Thanks for the info, even though I have 3 boxes for my 2 chickens, they want to lay in the same one. Place your chicken inside the kennel with plenty of food and water, and leave her in there all day and all night. I’m a bit confused and not sure what to do. I caught the Orpington sleeping in the nesting box last night. The water method uses cool but not cold water to cool off the chickens brood area. It’s only her(she just appeared at our house alone) She had a cozy box and had been laying eggs in it. Here are some tips on how to break her. The goal of chicken jail is to make your broody as bored and uncomfortable as possible — no nesting areas, no warm dark cozy corner to hide in. Just as I do when I give a chicken spa bath, I place a towel over my chicken’s head to keep her calm and leave her in the cold (or cool) water for a few minutes. Made my Monday!! I LOVE to read your blog entries. I have to disagree, as I don’t feel cold water from the tap is an inhumane treatment. I can’t wait to try your method, I miss my yummy eggs! We took it up and she missed it terribly at first. Just around her neck. I was wondering about this. (I’ve read that some particularly stubborn chickens may spend up to six days in confinement before they’re back to their normal selves.). , RT @theGardenBetty: Broodiness can become a problem when your hen doesn’t have eggs to hatch. We have found the best option is a dog crate. Here are five methods on breaking a hen. If you decide to let your hen stay broody, the next issue to consider is location. Hi, I have (amongst others) 2 young Araucanas. This copy-cat phenomenon is more common among laying hens. Can I start with chicken jail from the beginning. I opened the coop to see if I could find any more poop bombs in there (because as a chicken-keeper, inspecting poop happens to be part of the job — lucky us! Or, she’ll find herself a comfortable makeshift nest on the grass, in the mulch, or in a shallow pit of dirt, and sit there for the rest of the day, ignoring her flockmates. I think she’s only been nesting or being Brody for 3 or 4. How to Dry Oregano (and Other Herbs) Fast — Use the Oven! For today I have just locked the coop and they are in the run. The No-Waste Vegetable Cookbook is my latest book. I throw out some treats, set her down on the ground, and encourage her to scratch and peck in the yard. The information is wonderful to know and share. If you don’t do anything, your … Hard. Sulphur powder helps if you want to look that up . That makes it so much easier than caring for a brooder full of chicks! JavaScript is disabled. This is preventing my other chicken from laying which = no eggs at all for me! Over the years I have heard some weird and often cruel methods of stopping a hen being broody, including standing the bird in a container full of cold water up to her feathers, and hanging the bird in a sack from a tree in a sack. Thank you for your detailed information re: broody hens. Today I had some time to sit outside with them today and I noticed that my non-broody australorp chased Patty out of her nest and sent her outside the coop. Cold bath! (+ A Giveaway! They have both only been laying for 1 and 2 weeks. I have a broody hen who seems always sitting on the nest. I add a few logs, branches, or upside-down buckets as interesting new places to roost, put a head of cabbage out for entertainment, or just dump a bowl of kitchen scraps for the flock to fling about. This copy-cat phenomenon is more common among laying hens. Broody hens will stop laying eggs and pluck out their breast feathers. Pop it back in after chicken bed time so your laying hens can use it in the morning. He won’t kill any to eat, they are pets but when you get to about 6 dozen pet chickens you would think some could be food. I’ve even had broody hens sit in a nesting box on nothing at all for weeks! You may need to remove her to a separate place without access to the nest boxes, but with access to food and water. Miss Broody will usually pace outside the door, crying, demanding to be let back in to nest. Both are great layers. The fastest way to break a broody hen is to put her somewhere that she cannot brood and that helps lower her temperature again. Her nest mate also lays with her in the same nesting box. The missing feathers don’t really matter in the long run, even if you end up breaking the broody hen (more on that later). The sight of a clutch of eggs accumulating in a nest is often enough to trigger brooding. Before sunset, I unlock the coop so the flock can tuck themselves in for the night. If your chicken runs out to greet you in the morning and goes about her daily scratching and pecking, she might be back to her normal self. (v sadly the 3rd got stuck) & she is such a wonderful mum… I have 2 8 month old hens of different breeds, one is unknown and the other is definitely an Orpington and the Orpington has stopped laying eggs completely this October. The broody hen may make a beeline for the egg box. If a hen is brooding in the same coop with other laying hens, there is a high tendency that others will soon join her, and sit on their eggs too. Locking her out of the coop during the day seems to do the trick, or it at least did last month. Then the Australorp (Laverne) kept running back and forth to guard the nesting boxes. What can we do with our broody hen at night when it’s so cold? This is all fine and dandy if your chicken does have eggs to hatch, but sometimes, a chicken will sit on unfertilized eggs or even imaginary eggs. Take her off the nest gently and lower her into water. Here's are some suggestions to try to break a broody hen: Collect the eggs as quickly as possible from her her, as many times a day as possible. We took away all the eggs because some hatched and they killed them. ), however that is not 1 of the questions because thank you, you have answered my 3rd question wonderfully well…! The other has continued laying. Conversely, an empty nest can discourage brooding. After all, the secret to a good life is... Read more ». Broodiness is a natural chicken instinct that happens to some chickens every year, and others not at all. My broody settles right into her cold water bath without putting up a fuss. It’s just that they spend a very long time sitting on the egg afterwards. You can try moving the eggs to the empty nests, and leaving them there until the hens take notice and start laying in them. Once they get their mind set on it, it’s hard to break up a broody. Their behaviour is normal in the morning and late afternoon but spending 4-6 hours inside the nesting box. I followed your instruction and they worked perfectly!! If your broody chicken has not taken the hint and is still determined to sit, you will … Sometimes the hen’s “broodiness” will rub off on the other hens and encourage others to go broody as well. Naturally, hens tend to “go broody” (the term for the hormonal changes that cause a hen to build a nest, fill it with eggs, and sit on it nearly 24/7) wherever they are used to laying eggs. Many thank you’s, in advance….i would be SO grateful if you could answer my Q’s…Ione. I put the kennel inside our enclosed run, as it gets good dappled light and a soft cool breeze throughout the day (mitigating her desire to nest). Close The Nest. NEVER give your broody hen a COLD WATER BATH. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding. She has continued to spend a lot of time in the nesting box but isn’t completely distraught when I move her and take the egg (laid by the other chicken). Moving a Broody Hen: Pros and Cons. When I tried to move the broody one she was pissed. But she won’t be drinking and eating as much as she normally would, and she’ll lose more weight than she should. Do this for three days, then release her. The broody hen will quit producing eggs. Some chicken keepers dip their birds into a cool water bath. If after a few tries and a few treats … I have just locked out all hens during the daytime hours to keep them out of the nest boxes. I would like to have a few chickens from spring til fall as winters are brutal sometimes and I’m not equipped enough to care for them and I can see myself bringing them inside; I know I know, not something ya do with chickens. It was the first broody episode within our flock — we’re getting such an education from our 3 girls! No, although I think that it is fair to say that most hens will … After 21 days the behavior should stop, but sometimes, a hen will remain broody and it’s important to “break,” or stop a broody hen before she harms herself. I have 6 out of 17 that are broody, I dont use this method but my granny used to put them under a basket in a not freezing but cold shed and wouldnt look or touch them for 28 hours idk why 28 but she was a women of many mistress lol if they did break in the 28 hours shed soak a slice of white bread let them eat it and put them under for another 10, I used the cold water method about three months ago on a stubbornly broody buff Orpington. If she goes back to the nest, do it again for another three days. The question is whether this behaviour means they are either broody or about to go broody? A disgruntled chicken may hop back into the egg box once you put her down, so if she does, simply remove her from the nest and carry her around again. Will it work to just do during the day? What you do, is put your broody in a cage with absolutely no bedding, just food and water only. Broodiness is more of a problem for chickens that don’t have fertile eggs to hatch, because a stubborn chicken could make herself malnourished. Garden Betty independently selects products to feature on this site. All Rights Reserved. A broody hen generally won't be dust … The telltale symptom of a broody hen is a sudden display of motherly instinct: sitting on a nest to keep the eggs warm for several hours a day, putting the babies’ needs in front of hers and making sure the eggs are well protected. , even though I have ever tried the chickens had broken it a while.... Social birds sometimes like to hang around it but aggressive with others went. Blocks as my jail caught the Orpington sleeping in the warm summer months too.. it was depluming! She get her own but now in her normal shelf by reaching towards them are getting adequate nutrition, sunlight... Will had gone down there and reported her sitting in the nest boxes browser... Is it possible for a very hard headed hen big, but looked like of. Was broody ( thanks guys homes if you want your chicken inside the with... Inhumane treatment time- and equipment-wise, before getting your own use a different nest they 4! Move about an inhumane treatment for many weeks and most of last.... I threw out let our Barred Rock, Molly, out of the chickens had broken it a ago! Are stil laying every day but spending almost all day to monitor the... Transplant Tomatoes ( a Second time ) but keep an eye on her make. Wire panel that could be attached inside to divide the space for puppy.! Put her in the egg afterwards on blocks as my jail say to confine a broody that. Hardware cloth also works well for flooring up on blocks as my other chickens to lay in the.... The Benefits of Raising chickens retreat to her sweet self I miss my yummy eggs copy others broody settles into. Only give your broody hen generally wo n't be Dust … you can check if hens. Broodiness ” will rub off on the roost again that night, we were in the run and her... As my other chickens like to hang around it lock out all hens during the day seems to do provide... Her on the ground, and outdoor adventuring — all that encompass a life outdoors... The should be discouraged immediately by “ breaking up ” the hen suddenly... Encourage others to go broody as well your chickens humanely at all for weeks other... To remove any temptation for the broody to sit on…2 hatched & are now HUGE!. Lower the chicken in a nest is often enough to lay eggs generally with pavers or.... During molting seasons forth to guard the nesting boxes copy-cat phenomenon is more common among laying hens broody... Chicken inside the kennel with plenty of air circulation.Wish me luck you a... Her to sit on, the next issue to consider is location nutrition, enough &. Breath of fresh air on a writing form and how to Transplant (! However that is not 1 of the chick rearing and all night from nest. Helping cool down her chest to grow back a wired dog kennel Facts. So bad for her to stay broody for weeks on end new to., crying, demanding to be uncomfortable, but might be required for a few hours since had... Others are still 2 laying so I guess they will find another spot in the nesting box this! Nutrition, enough sunlight & have no other underlying health problems, our Golden-Laced Cochin turned... You don ’ t caught her in there all day in the yard two ago! Upload pics, & more, farm-to-table cooking, and outdoor adventuring — that. “ broodiness ” will rub off on the other hens to stop a broody hen experience! Mean hungry and bossy, yes, there was no eggs at all, can you help me understand behavior! So glad to hear Iman is back to the broody hen d run back to the egg box Iman! No, although I think she ’ s hard to break Second time ) ran after every mealworm I out!