[mowhaugh]

One of my hens has gone broody, she will hardly come out of the hen house, I have to lift her out to eat and drink (she looks very well, though) and she spends her days gathering up the eggs the others lay to sit on.  What should I do with her?  My husband says I should make her into soup and curry, but I think that is a bit harsh - I was wondering if I bought her some fertilised eggs to hatch out, if that would get her back to normal?

[Sbom]

Letting her hatch some will certainly cure her......only problem then is what to do with the chicks! Will be almost certainly more than half cocks 
I currently have a pile of four broody hens all sharing about a dozen eggs which are just hatching, there's bodies everywhere 

[mowhaugh]

I could turn the cocks into the soup and curry!  Seems a shame to waste a young healthy hen.

[shygirl]

I could turn the cocks into the soup and curry!  Seems a shame to waste a young healthy hen.

if you dont want her broody, then just be hard and collect all the eggs. iv never heard of anyone culling a bird as she gone broody. its normal behaviour which is stronger in some birds than others.
if you can,  let her sit but it is getting late in the year so you'l have young chicks in september - not ideal unless you have good shelter for them.

[mowhaugh]

I am collecting all the eggs, but she is not laying her own any more, just sitting on the other hens', so it is getting a bit boring now.  I'd really like her to start laying again, not just eating pellets.  Don't worry, I am not going to cull her just for that, my husband is just being mean.  I think we'd be OK shelter -wise for chicks as our hen houses are inside an open fronted shed - if they didn't stray too far.  I didn't realise hens would be complicated, but they are very entertaining.

[roddycm]

your two choices are to either put some eggs under her and let her hatch them (she will need a nice private spot to do this) or you can just stop her being broody.
To stop mine being broody I wet their bellies and then put them in a raised chicken crate ( the commercial type with lots of slats and holes in it) for a 3 days with food and water. Wetting her tummy really helps! You may feel its mean to crate her but if you think she is happy to sit for 21 days, being in a crate for 3 days is nothing! If you dont have a crate you can use an alternative, the idea is that she is well ventilated and as there is no straw etc she will lose the urge to sit. Works every time for me even with silkies. I only do it when I want them to go back into lay, otherwise I will always put some eggs under them and let them hatch whatever it may be that are in the eggs... ducklings, goslings or chicks!

[HesterF]

I've got Orps which are all insanely broody - their lay rate has been terrible since they seem to spend half the time broody. Earlier in the season I let them sit and three hatched eggs, the other two let me down having faffed around and abandoned eggs. Two have gone broody again over the last couple of weeks and I've just kept removing eggs and tried to shift them from wherever they were based (one was in the corner of the duck house and seemed fine to be surrounded by ducks at night). They have both now snapped out of it again which is good. I did try water on one of them - I have a dog bath filled with water for the ducks so I just held her in there for a wee while - but she just seemed to take it in her stride, stayed in the water quite happily and then went back to brooding again. I guess it has to be colder water which I don't think I could do. Have also heard that the draughty coop should work so there's nowhere comfy for them to sit but haven't tried it myself. FWIW, the breeder I got some of my birds from has about fifteen pens of breeding Orps and so he has to deal with this a lot and he just leaves them to it (without eggs) and eventually they get through it. He says he just doesn't have the capacity to deal with antibroody coops or to let them all brood something.

H

[roddycm]

my orps would sit for months if i let them! I find the water and drafty coup option is kinder in the long run and it improves the amount of eggs I get!! I think its better for them to take them out of it if they are not going to hatch anything!

[Possum]

Yes, the drafty cage works pretty quickly and they don't seem at all distressed by it. Just rather bemused!
You can use a puppy crate if you have somewhere dry to put it.


Failing that, you can take her off the nest every morning and stop her going back in again until the evening. It takes longer, about a week, but it works with my bantams.

[Hevxxx99]

Put her in a smallish cage without bedding or home comforts and leave her there until she stops being fluffed up and making broody noises. It may take a week or so.   

I have heard that two wire shopping baskets joined one on top of the other and hung up high in a draughty spot is the thing.

Alternatively, advertise her for sale as a sitting  broody: she'll probably be snapped up!

[mowhaugh]

Thank you, that is all great advice, I have a pheasant crate so I think that would be suitable.

[mowhaugh]

Am too soft, have ordered some hatching eggs for her - mainly because I would love some chicks.

[Hevxxx99]

 

[mowhaugh]

it was very exciting, I ordered a pot luck assortment of 6 eggs, from a list of 12 possible breeds of large chooks, I felt like a child at Christmas opening them, my mum and my sons were sitting round watching too, it was loads of fun.  The eggs are 6 different breeds (they promised at least 3), and one of them is a Rhode Island Red, which I really wanted.  Mrs Chook is very pleased with them, so now we have to wait and see.  I can't decide if the worst case scenario is a) none of them are fertile or b) I end up with 6 cockerels!

[suziequeue]

Ahh ...... It's started!!  That was our downfall....... going for different breeds........ so now we've gone from six to thirty chickens this year :-D