[Ann and Rob]

How do we deal with a broody hen that will not leave her nest and is putting the other one off going into lay?

[doganjo]

Keep moving her, even separate them with some wire netting if necessary.

[little blue]

?get her some fertile eggs to sit, in her own house?!

[Fowlman]

The best way to cure a broody is put her in a raised cage(puppy cage) on bricks with food and water but no bedding, 3 days like that normally does the trick. Or if your about during the day keep turfing her out and sometimes thats enough. Or you could as already mentioned just give her some fertile eggs.

[Ann and Rob]

Thank you for all your help, much appreciated, does this broody behaviour happen regularly?? Newbies at the chicken keeping!!

[chrismahon]

Afraid it does with some breeds Anne and Rob. We have some delightful Transylvanian Naked Necks. They lay every day but the published figures say only 150 eggs a year. Now I know why -constantly broody. Fortunately turfing them out of the nest box for a week is enough to break them and they lay a week later. But one has been broody twice in a month ! They are only babies, what will they be like next year ?

[hughesy]

We've had a couple lately. Tried letting the first one sit but she gave up after two weeks. The next one we just kept throwing her out of the shed and taking the eggs away and she got the message after a few days.

[Castle Farm]

What we normally do is put the unwanted broody hen into a cardboard box for a day or so without food, water or daylight this normally knocks them off, hope this helps

Don't you think your method is cruel. You don't cure a broody by not allowing it to eat or drink FFS.

That is the problem with forums/ There are the 'experts' and there are people that know what they are doing.

[clydesdaleclopper]

Certainly don't leave them without food or water. The best way to think about it is what conditions the hen would like in order to hatch out a clutch and then try to provide the opposite.

[suziequeue]

We re-sited our broody hen and once she was settled in a more "convenient" place we got some fertile eggs from up the road and let her sit on them. I know how frustrated humans get when they want children but can't have them...... it is an overriding instinct.

We now have six lovely healthy cuckoo maran chicks being doted on by Mum - watching them outside the caravan window is better than telly. Some amazingly complex behaviour in the little ones.

Fortunately they have been trained to come to the sound of the mealworm pot being shaken which - hopefully - will make them easier to catch in future.

[in the hills]

How often they go broody depends mainly on their breed ...... hybrids hardly ever but peekins or silkies quite often. Broodiness will have been bred out of hybrids because when they are broody they dont lay.

Some broodies will give up if you take them off the nest and take away any eggs - several times each day. Others are very determined    We have to remove our peekins from their usual coop and put them in a wire dog crate which is held off the ground by being placed on some house bricks. The cold air circulating below them cools their body and puts them off. They are given food and water as usual. In the day I put the crate outdoors, covered from sun/rain and at night I bring them into shed/garage.Putting them outdoors in the light/able to see the other hens seems to work better/faster than being kept in the shed or garage all the time(more likely to snuggle down in the dark). I dont like doing it but seems necessary with some birds. I dont want too many hatches during the year and if left to sit for no reason the birds can lose condition. It only takes 2/3 days even for our very determined sitters. 

[suziequeue]

Certainly having a broody hen and then with chicks takes them out of circulation for some considerable time..... and also the need to separate them to the age of 18 weeks. It's a significant commitment in eggs, time and space.

But absolutely worth it IMO

[in the hills]

Yes, if you have room for more hens and can deal responsibly with the cockerels then it is lovely to see a mother hen with her young. We have a peekin (who didnt get a turn last year) with 5 chicks at the moment and it is so special but some breeds are so broody that its not practical to  let them hatch out chicks all the time. It depends on your circumstances I suppose. Even my Friesians who are supposed to rarely go broody  ..... keep going broody. I would be overrun with hens !!!!!   

[Castle Farm]

Castle farm
strong language directed at someone so young, my hens are looked after to a high standard.

It doesn't matter how old you are. If your not grown up enough to take care of your livestock correctly you shouldn't be keeping them until your are old enough to take responsibility.

It makes my eyes water the number of times you see posts by people that haven't got a clue what they are talking about.
If you are not totally certain it's the correct thing to do then don't give advice. 

A broody hen is actually colder than a bird that is normal activity by about 2 degrees. 'Cooling' her down is a load of clap trap perpetuated by people that have picked up this bit of old wives tale and think it's true.

She needs to be fed and watered and given something to do, preferably in a coop or run on her own. She should not be punished for doing what a hen is supposed to do.

[suziequeue]

Yes, if you have room for more hens and can deal responsibly with the cockerels then it is lovely to see a mother hen with her young. We have a peekin (who didnt get a turn last year) with 5 chicks at the moment and it is so special but some breeds are so broody that its not practical to  let them hatch out chicks all the time. It depends on your circumstances I suppose. Even my Friesians who are supposed to rarely go broody  ..... keep going broody. I would be overrun with hens !!!!!   

Yes - agree 100% ITH. I was just thinking this morning "I hope no more broodies for the moment" as I don't really have the run space for another lot and we don't have another broody coop at the minute. Forunately ours dont get broody too often but it's only May........ I would have to think carefully about acquiring very broody breeds.