[Rosemary]

I bought 30 POL Rhode Rocks and 10 White Leghorns a couple of months back. They've been laying fine - getting 38 or 39 eggs a day but now about eight of the Rhode Rocks have decided they're broody, so egg numbers have fallen significantly.

Is there anything I can do to convince them that laying and egg a day is better than sitting in the nestbox, causing queues and pecking me? Please don't suggest that I get some eggs and let them sit.

[lord flynn]

Just keep removing them, even the silkie crosses take the hint eventually. whether they'll come back into lay straight away is another matter-depends if the moult first

[Womble]

Dog crate up on bricks so they can't keep their bums warm always seems to work for us after a couple of days.

Either that or order some hatching eggs at great expense - guaranteed to put them off! 

[Clansman]

 

Either that or order some hatching eggs at great expense - guaranteed to put them off! 

Sounds about right

Dog crate works for me too, anything to keep them from building up a heat underneath them should do it.

[chrismahon]

We find if you catch them early enough just removing them from the nest box a few times is sufficient. But there is on occasion a really persistent broody and they go into a fox trap fitted with fine weld mesh on the base so they can walk on it. The trap is raise on blocks to get airflow underneath and the broody goes in for up to 3 days and nights. Obviously they need to be sheltered from rain and given food and water.


The first day they sit, the second they stand but still cluck and the third they start pacing. Sometimes it's obvious they have had enough at day two, but if you do let them out too early you may need to start the process again. We have put two in the same cage once, which still worked fine -we've only got one cage.

[in the hills]

As Chrismahon says.

Isn't it unusual to have so many hybrids go broody?  We've kept different kinds of hybrid for about 20 yrs and only ever had one go broody! ...... Mind you it was a Black Rock.   It was a half hearted kind of broody though and lasted only a few days before giving up of her own accord.


Maybe it would be better to source from a different supplier next time.    'Broodiness' is usually bred out of hybrids.

[waterbuffalofarmer]

I bought 30 POL Rhode Rocks and 10 White Leghorns a couple of months back. They've been laying fine - getting 38 or 39 eggs a day but now about eight of the Rhode Rocks have decided they're broody, so egg numbers have fallen significantly.

Is there anything I can do to convince them that laying and egg a day is better than sitting in the nestbox, causing queues and pecking me? Please don't suggest that I get some eggs and let them sit.

I remember reading in a poultry book that to stop a hen from being broody is to keep her in a  hens house with only slats on the floor, I am not sure how humane that is though so what about this method instead?
I found this.....
1. Moving her from the nest box.

If you keep taking her off the nest, putting her outside, she may decide to give up although this often requires many attempts.

2. Cooling the broody hen off.

Sometimes by taking her off the nest and dunking her lower half (underside) into a bucket of cool water until her feathers are wet can put her off. This could be a distraction for her as her instinct is now to dry herself off and preen her feathers by which time she may head straight back to the nest, or may have forgotten about the nest.

This should only be done in the warmer months so a hen doesn’t get cold and tends to only work on hens that have just become broody. Combine this with shutting her out of the house or nesting area.

3. Moving her to a new house.

The most success I have had is by moving a hen to a small outdoor run I have for chicks. I do not give her access to the house. She is on fresh grass and has water. I ensure there is a lot of corn scattered around to keep her interested. At night-time I place her onto a low perch inside the house in the dark. The floor is bare and there is no nesting material. The next day she goes back out into the run. Once a couple of mornings have passed where she is not sitting but eager to get out into the run for her food, I put her back into the main run. Be careful when re-introducing her to the flock as she may get pecked for a while until the pecking order is re-established. While she is isolated, it is better to keep her close to the flock so they can still see and smell her. This makes the re-introduction much easier.

A large dog crate can also be used – place this in the cool / shade and ensure she has shelter, food and water but no nesting material. Place her back in the hen-house over night with the rest of the flock. 2 to 3 days is usually sufficient. This may seem a little harsh restricting her, but in the long run it’s kinder than letting her sit for 5 or 6 weeks to get run down.

If you manage to stop your hen from being broody, you will find that she probably won’t lay for a few weeks but this is usually better than 12 weeks or so if she was trying to sit on eggs.

[Carse Goodlifers]

I know a guy who's gran used to put broodies in a pillow case and hang them out on the line for 24hrs 
Apparently that put them off but I dare say that would be enough to put anything off doing anything.
I can just see the headline in the Courier now 'Smallholder's hen's left out high and to dry'.

[Kimbo]

on a slight deviation.....
we have 2 Cream Legbars now aged about 26 weeks. They are still laying pullet-sized eggs though they are steadily getting bigger, so they aren't fully mature yet.
3 weeks ago ( when they were even less mature)  one CLB went missing. I thought Foxy-Loxy had been visiting and was very sad ( even though this hen is very stupid and quite aggressive!). Next morning though she was pacing outside the hen run wanting to get to her friends. Hooray, I thought, but that evening she was missing again. She didn't fool me this time: I knew she was off sitting somewhere.
Eventually my son found her deep in 4ft high nettles behind the stables. ive no idea how she got in there as she had made no little track through the nettles at all. She was abs livid to be found. I saw a couple of eggs poking out from under her and reached to get them: she attacked my hand! I grabbed her by the tail and she was furious.
Underneath her were 17 blue eggs! 17 !!! We were staggered as Im certain that both the girls had also been laying in the hen-house every couple of days. We were sure that some of the eggs would have gone off but not so; we ate them all, albeit over a few days and in every conceivable egg recipe going!
Is it usual for a hen to go broody so early in her life?
She hasn't shown any interest in her nest since, but we did strim her hideaway down 

[Womble]

We have a Black Rock who successfully sat and raised chicks this year.  She was actually a very good mum (super aggressive towards anything that might threaten her babies!!)