Breaking broodies

BabyBantam

BabyBantam

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Well, now got 3 broodies..... Tricksy just joined the other two :(
Problem is, been trying to break Nancy and Fifi for just over a week now. They are sent packing downstairs at 6am, then forced to stay in the run with no access to the house all day, only being allowed back upstairs at dusk. They are locked out of the nest boxes overnight, but just camp down on the floor of the house or a corner of the run. Their breast temperature seems to have lowered (as felt by me, not scientific) but still in full 'squark' language, with all the usual banshee tendencies and when let out in the garden, spend hours wandering round the ark trying to play Houdini, to get back in.
I wouldn't usually mind too much, but going on holiday at end of the month, so need them to be up and about as my mum isn't able to take the side of the ark off to evict them every morning and they are not eating unless forcibly removed.
Anyone any idea how long it might take me to break them and if tricksy is liable to change her mind about being broody as she's getting the same treatment?
 
The only method we have used that works fast is a suspended cage in the run Baby Bantam. We used a fox trap and covered the base with 10mm weld mesh.Put a small feeder and drinker in there. We then stood it on concrete blocks so that plenty of air got underneath and they couldn't reach the necessary temperature. Bit drastic and I worried that they may 'burn out'. But they were fine, although they were only two years old. Put two Buff Orpingtons in it at the same time. One went 3 days the other 5.
 
Poor stupid Marigold has just gone broody for the fourth time this summer and is now barricaded in a corner of the run that I've set up semi- permanently for her. I don't let her get back int the coop at night, she has to stay out there on her own. She should be back to normal within a couple of days.
If your run is secure enough at night, I think its a good idea to keep them out of the coop altogether, whether in a cage or just somewhere barren which isn't dark and cosy at all. This does cause mild stress and seems to convince them that the time is not propitious for having babies.
 
Sadly, my run is only protected by a battery powered bungee and i do not have enough faith in it to leave them out in it at night. We have a fox family in the area and although not in the garden, would not risk losing them for anything. I know it stops things investigating the run, but if dinner is sitting right in front of you, mains power is the only thing I'd trust. Torrential rain today, so will continue as I am and hope they break.... Thank you though, as advice and knowledge is very welcome :)
 
You are quite right, of course, to keep them in the coop for safety if foxes are around, Could there be any outbuilding, shed or garage they could be shut in at night, possibly? The change to strange surroundings and the lack of home comforts might just do the trick!
 
Marigold's suggestion has occasionally worked for us Baby Bantam. The disorientation of different surroundings at any point. I was advised to take a broody hen to a friends garden (Tygrysek I think) for a few hours. We actually moved her up to the front garden and that worked once. Comfort is an issue, trouble is once they get that glazed look and go into 'the zone' they are not particularly aware of their surroundings anyway. A cuddle has a similar effect.
 
Yes I think prevention is definitely best - I jump on Marigold at the first sign she is settling unproductively in the nestbox for hours, and then 48 hours of semi-isolation does the trick.
 
I use a large wire dog crate with a metal floor, luckily have lots of shade so the metal stays cool, I clip on those plastic cup feeders onto the wire so they don't knock the food and water over while inside, it's nice and secure against foxes and normally 3-5 days in there is enough you can normally tell from their body language and calls but I watch what they do when I let them out, if they go running into the nest box it's another 24 hours for them.
 
Sorry for my ignorance but why is it important to break the habit of a broody hen?

I had one earlier this year. I kept pushing her off the nest and eventually she didn't worry about t. Since joining this site I have realised that I don't know very much and would like to understand the reasoning behind everything.
 
If you don't intervene, she will go on sitting and sitting for weeks in a trance- like state, taking no exercise and very little food and water, and she will waste away eventually. There's no point in letting her health suffer like this as she will lose weight and condition. Also of course, she won't return to laying eggs until shes back to normal. Going broody is a hormonal condition, sort of a false pregnancy, and the aim is to return her to normal if she isn't going to expend all that time and energy in hatching chicks. She needs light, air, and nowhere to get too comfortable, and then she will begin to eat, drink and exercise again, her hot breast will cool down, and she will stop wanting to sit on her own in the dark.
Modern egglaying hybrids have been bred through many pedigree generations not to go broody, because to a farmer making a living from selling eggs, this is just a nuisance that severely reduces egg production. Sometimes people think of hybrid layers as just common sort of hens, because there are so many of them and therefore they are cheaper than purebreds, but actually they are all bred just as carefully, or more so, as most purebreds, for the job they are intended to do. Many purebred breeds have been breed more for show appearance than for utility and don't actually lay very regularly at all, and many of them go broody. Which is lovelyif you want chicks, but a pain if you don't!
 
Babybantam...ah they are broody then? Don't worry much about these two hens, try and keep then away from their preferred nesting area as much as possible for now, then if they sit a bit tight when you're away I wouldn't worry too much, they are fit and bombproof little things and a bit of sitting won't hurt them.
Actually it is your fault for providing them with a rather luxurious new home! :D
 
Broodies are broken for varying reasons, mostly due to it being inconvenient for humans. They will not get off the nest (even empty ones) for weeks and will happily starve themselves to death if left to themselves. I keep pekin bantams so they are notoriously prone to broodiness, but I need them to be up and about as chicken sitter (in this case disabled mum) won't be able to open their ark and manhandle them every day.
I'm going to try putting them in the front garden in a temp run tomorrow so they are on new ground completely. Got home today to find them all happily perched in the run with glazed look and not even a blink when the dog put his head in the run to Hoover up poo :D
 
You must have a very well- nourished dog, B.B!
Pleased to report that Marigold is now back in circulation after three nights in detention. I agree about the hen sitters - we're going away on Sunday and this time I have to rely on non- hen neighbours for basic care, as my poultry- keeping friend will be away as well. We planned it badly this time!
 
foxy said:
Actually it is your fault for providing them with a rather luxurious new home! :D
Click to expand...

:D they do rather like it, but I'm afraid their bloomers are a little less Victorian lady and a little more 'Elizabeth Bennett'. Think Nancy's been teaching them a thing or two about mud bathing :oops:
 
Thank you all for your detailed explanations. I have learnt so much since joining this forum. I never knew chicken keep was so technical.
 
BabyBantam said:
foxy said:
Actually it is your fault for providing them with a rather luxurious new home! :D
Click to expand...

:D they do rather like it, but I'm afraid their bloomers are a little less Victorian lady and a little more 'Elizabeth Bennett'. Think Nancy's been teaching them a thing or two about mud bathing :oops:
Click to expand...

Oh dear I am shocked! Please don't tell me their ankles are exposed! :D :D
 
it may not be a solution for now but if u can a rabbit hutch take the floor out of it and replace it with small gauge weld mesh the draft from bellow brakes there broodieness pretty quick.
 
Well, end may be in sight for tricksy anyway. We have a wing feather and a few smaller ones today in the run, so looks like a minor moult starting. Funny, as she was the last one to go. Nancy is also not sitting in the run when I check on them, but none of them are eating properly.
Got one more week before chicken sitting starts, so hoping all will settle for then.
Interestingly, we've had foxes screaming in the fields around us for last couple of nights, so wondering if that's helped to make up their minds? Toby is doing a great job of watering the boundaries, so happy that dog scent will help to keep them at bay. If he doesn't work, me with a pitchfork and murder in my eyes should put off anything without a death wish :D
 
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