Trouble with a broody Bantam

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I have a year old Pekin cross bantam that seems to be permanently broody! The first time it happened I used her to hatch some Aracauna eggs - she was a good sitter and mother too, and was back to normal after the chicks grew up, but over the last 3 months she has been broody most of the time. I have her in a separate pen but it makes no difference to the broodiness, and the other problem is that when I let the other bantams out she tries to 'mate' with them like a rooster :shock: Is that a hormone problem? I'm sure I read that somewhere years ago. It's got to the stage that I have to let her out for a dustbath and run round separately so she can't hassle the others. At the moment she is like a loose canon. :x
 
Hi Jani,

I haven't seen this sort of mating behaviour before but my guess is it's her hormones as you say. Hens thinking they are cockerels isn't that uncommon - sometimes they will try to crow and boss the hens about too.

It sounds like she is a very good boody bantam though! There are things you can try to break her habbit - although these are best done very early on. There's an FAQ on the forum and some info on the main poultrykeeper.com site here: How to stop a broody hen

Someone also suggested recently using an old wash tub or similar - they put their broody under there with food and water for a couple of day and it works for them every time. I guess it's a solid tub and there's just a little light coming in where the handles are.
 
Thanks for the advice Tim. I've still got her in a separate pen and she is still broody so will just have to wait it out for her to return to normal. I let her out for a run around and dustbath in the mornings while I'm cleaning out the chookhouse and make sure she doesn't get in there and hassle the others. She has very long legs too and I have to watch my garden because she gets stuck into my plants as well scratching them to bits! :x Later in the day I let the others out separately and everything is peaceful. :P
 
OK I think Snifter uses a cage - hung from the roof with nothing to sit on to break a broody.

Good luck... ;)
 
You can tell from the photo she is a stroppy bird, I think she was meant to be a rooster! :D The others are Pekins but this one is a mixture of something else, is quite big for a bantam - very long legs!
 
She suddenly went back to normal and I think she has started laying again. Everything is very peaceful now. 8-)
 
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