Wyandotte still broody after 8 weeks !!

bevdrury

bevdrury

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Can anyone help me ? My Wyandotte, Winnie, has been broody now for 8 weeks and showing no signs of stopping. I turn her out each morning(much to her fury!) and keep her out for several hours. Luckily the set up I have allows my other girls access to the coop without letting Winnie back in.
Last year she successfully had two lots of chicks but as it was February and freezing when she started to sit this time I decided not to give her any eggs. Obviously I can't give her eggs now as she is already very underweight but has anyone got any ideas how to put a stop to this obsessive behaviour? :-)19
 
We lock ours in a run attached to the main run, so they don't lose the flock heirarchy. They are in the cold and draughty run for 3 days and nights. Afterwards, if they have stopped the wide glazed eye expression and the broody noises they are let out. If you let them out too early and they go back into a nest box the whole process has to be repeated. So the reason it's taking 8 weeks Bev is that you start the process every day and stop it in the evening.
 
Thanks for the advice. The only problem with her being out at night is, the run she is in is too big to cover and she would be a sitting target for foxes! That, plus I'm just too soft and couldn't stand the thought of her being cold and lonely!! :( I gues i'll just have to ride it out. She does eat and dust bath daily so I don't think she's suffering.
 
Personally, i just leave them- i have so many chickens i couldn't keep them all separate :shock: They all give up in the end- and i have never lost one yet in 40 odd years - just make sure to remove eggs at least daily and she will stop when she wants to.
regards, Davidd :)
 
Thanks David thats very reassuring . I've only been doing this a year so still stress about everything !! You sound like you've got your hands full. Are you a breeder ? :)
 
A hobby one- i have all large fowl- silkies, leghorns, Coronation and light sussex, muskovy ducks and giant exhibition dewlap toulouse geese.
regards, Davidd :)
 
Oh dear! I do sympathise with you. I have a Silver Laced Wyandotte who goes broody regularly for long periods of time and I am always tearing my hair out because she doesn't eat. She's not very big and not eating for 6-8 weeks doesn't do her any good at all! This time I've been lucky, she went broody on the 17/18th March and stopped yesterday! That's got to be the shortest broody period so far. See my post titled 'Potty Dotty is starving herself'. I put her in a dog cage during the day until the other hen has laid and then I can shut the house door and let her out of the cage. She then just sits in a corner of the run. At night I let her back in the house, but I was making the mistake of also allowing her access to the nest boxes (pretty stupid I know!). When I realised my mistake I put upturned pots in the nest boxes so she didn't have access and she stopped being broody after 2 days of this.
 
Oh dear Sue, it must be a Wyandotte thing . Although, last November my Orpington went broody for twelve weeks! Unlike Winnie though, she had the sense to take regular comfort breaks :D I'm just going to have to keep lifting her off and hope she comes to her senses soon.
 
Our regular broody is a Wyandotte as well. She does make an excellent mother, having successfully hatched two broods. She's had two nights out in the cold and is beginning to look miserable and totally fed up with the broody idea. So, as I am getting soft in my old age, I will put her on the perch in the coop tonight and block the nest boxes as Marigold suggests, so she doesn't get the urge to sneak in at first light. She's just laid an egg in the run and left it there, so she must be coming out of it.
 
HaHa Chris. I guess we are all a bit daft ! :lol: Thing is I never wanted chickens. It was my husbands idea. I'm now so hooked its all I talk about . Sad but true!!!!!!
 
With persistent broodies it's no good making half hearted attempts at breaking them. They need to be taken out and put into something like a dog crate with a sprinkling of shavings, food and water. They will be off broody within a week.
However, there's no real harm in letting them sit, they are just a nuisance and some seem to cause such stress to their owners ! Loss of productio for eight weeks in a commercial flock would of course not be acceptable.
 
Thanks Chuck. Decided I'm just going to leave her be. She is so determined I think I'm going to let nature take its course. As Davidd said, he's had chickens for 40 years and never lost a broody. I think when you are new to this game its easy to get stressed ! :)
 
Well poor little Loulou is the first time we've had a major health problem with a broody. She's been in an open run for 3 days and two nights but I let her in last night because the forcast was so bad. She sat on the perch and tried to incubate her phantom clutch and this morning looked decidedly ill. Bought her is as she showed signs of hypothermia! She's completely spaced out and unaware of her surroundings. I know that sounds like a broody anyway, but I can see it's much more than that. She's not talking for a start. Think she's pumped so much heat into her underbelly she has burned out. So she'll be staying in for a few days for tlc.
 
Oh poor you, and poor Loulou :( . Do you know Chris, when my husband was trying to talk me into keeping a few hens his argument was "you won't know you've got them"! Oh how wrong was he. Well put it this way HE doesn't know we've got them :lol:
Having said that I have so much pleasure from my four girls I wouldn't be without them. And last year having chicks hatch was just the best!
I'm waiting patiently for Fleur (orpington) to start sitting so I can dash out and get some eggs. It's sad that Winnie(wyandotte) didn't get any but it was just too cold in Feb.If I thought I could give her some now I would but I'm worried it might kill her after so long.
Hope your girl is ok . :)
 
Oh Dear! I think poor LouLou will need a cup of cocoa and a hot water bottle Chris!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
Or the chicken equivalent Sue. She's standing up but hasn't eaten. Tried a tempting piece of Yorkshire pud but she doesn't seem to recognise it -would normally take your fingers off!! Left her with a scattering of grain. Will have to feed rearer mash tonight and hope she recovers.
 
She's still broody. 12 weeks and counting!!

I turf her off each day for several hours but she's just not having it.
To be fair as she is eating, drinking etc it's not a huge problem but I just wonder what is the longest time anyone has recorded for a broody to sit. :-)19
 
Hi Bev. I think Sue has the longest broody on the forum. Most we've had is 4 days until we stopped putting them outside in a run day and night. We've just had an Orpington go 2 weeks, kept in a separate run during the day and allowed into the coop at night but with the nest boxes blocked off. After losing Loulou we are taking broody breaking a lot steadier, even if it means longer without eggs.
 
Bev, my infamous Wyandotte, Potty Dotty is broody again! She was broody in April, but surprisingly she stopped after 3 1/2 weeks, BUT she is now broody again! There was two weeks in between, so I suppose I shouldn't complain :-)07

Do you put something in the nest boxes at night so that she can't get into them? I think this is what helped mine stop quicker last time. I suddenly realised how stupid I had been by letting her go back into the house at night and straight into the nest box!!! I now put upturned flower pots in them so she can't get in. She now just sits on the floor in front of them!

She lives with another hen who is laying so I have to put her in a wire cage with corn and water until the other bird has laid and then I shut the house door and let her out of the cage. I did worry about it a lot at first because she didn't eat and I tried all sorts of things to make her eat (which weren't very successful and was very time consuming), but now I'm so used to it that I just adopt the above routine every time it happens and don't worry about her! I've only had her since March last year and she's been nothing but trouble for most of that time, but she is also quite a character!!
 
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