Help my hen is brooding i think!

[ChirpTJ]

I'm new here and pretty new to chickens but I think one of my hens is brooding. She doesn't want to leave the coop. She's keeping the others out of the laying box.
Is she ok? What can I do to help her? Is there a nice way of breaking her out of it or do I just have to wait it out and see what happens?

How often does this happen? Is there any way to prevent my chickens from getting broody? Ok maybe I'm a little more new to this than I thought lol. I want to spoil my hens and give them a long happy life! Thanks for any help!

 

[JoshB]

welcome to the forum @ChirpTJ ! thanks for joining.
when my hens do this I just gently take them out of the lay box and place them on the ground. they don't like it but I don't want them brooding for too long. If they don't cooperate after a few days then I will set a timer and go out there multiple times per day to remove them. I've never had to put up a barrier or isolate a broody hen. This method has always worked OK for me. I'm curious to hear what others do!!

 

[Little red hen]

Hello there ChirpTJ.
It's been a long, long time since I had a broody hen. The birds I've had in the past 10+ years never went broody (bantam welsummer, Plymouth rock, Dominique, leghorn, vorwerk, lakenvelder and RIR). But I do remember all we did was lift the angry lady out of the box, take the eggs away and although may have repeated it, in a few days she was over it. Good luck!

 

[ChirpTJ]

Thanks so much for the insights guys. I really appreciate it. I was so worried at first. She's responding, i think.

 

[chick]

I'm new here and pretty new to chickens but I think one of my hens is brooding. She doesn't want to leave the coop. She's keeping the others out of the laying box.
Is she ok? What can I do to help her? Is there a nice way of breaking her out of it or do I just have to wait it out and see what happens?

How often does this happen? Is there any way to prevent my chickens from getting broody? Ok maybe I'm a little more new to this than I thought lol. I want to spoil my hens and give them a long happy life! Thanks for any help!

Hi
I've had quite a few broody hens over the years and not had much luck with breaking the habit. These days I just let them get on with it, making sure they have at least half an hour out of the nest box each day and removing any eggs they're sitting on. They get over it eventually.

 

[Shadrach]

Is she ok?

If she is broody then yes she's fine.

What can I do to help her?

That depends on the outcome you want. If you want her to sit and hatch then all you need to do is to make sure she's gets off her nest once a day to eat, drink, dust bathe and have a leg stretch. I can explain more once I know the path you intend to take. There is no mention of a rooster so I assume the eggs are not fertile.

Is there a nice way of breaking her out of it or do I just have to wait it out and see what happens?

Some hens give up reasonably easily, others are as stubborn as a granite boulder.
JoshB has given you good advice and I do much the same. Stripping out the nest box, removing any eggs and putting them on the coop roost bar at nigh should they still sit on an empty nest is usually all it takes.
If the hen won't give up then one needs to put them in a wire cage like a dog crate with a perch six inches high off the base of the cage. The cage needs to be propped up on a coupleof bricks or cinder blocks so that air will circulate underneath her chest. The aim si to reduce the temperature of the underside of the hen and this drop in temperature (maybe 1C to 1.5C) switches off the broody circuit.

How often does this happen? Is there any way to prevent my chickens from getting broody? Ok maybe I'm a little more new to this than I thought lol. I want to spoil my hens and give them a long happy life! Thanks for any help!

Nope, once ahen has shown she'll go broody she'll usually do it again. It's natural behaviour.

 

[ChirpTJ]

No the eggs are definitely not fertile. She seems to have given up but that's interesting that she'll definitely do it again. Thanks so much for sharing your wisdom @Shadrach . What a relief!

 

[Shadrach]

interesting that she'll definitely do it again.

Not definitely, usually.

The broody monster. If your hen looks like this off her nest she's broody.


To combat some of the nonsense people write about roosters...
Henry (dad) with Mow and Dig, two of the chicks he fathered last year.

 

[Asimov I]

Wow I wish we had prettier birds available here where I am!