Broody hens?

[MINESAPINT]

Out of our 4 chooks we have one determine to become a mum and goes broody 3 or 4 times a year. I understand if left, a broody hen can lose condition or at worse starve herself to death. As soon as I notice I have a broody I remove her from the nest box and put her in a wire cage in another building. I do provide her with food and water but no bedding. Within 4 or 5 days I re introduce her to the others and if she is still broody she gets another 2 days solitary. This has always worked and within another week or so she is laying again.

What do you do?

[Odsox]

Exactly the same as you with maybe one exception.
I always have the wire cage well off the ground in a draughty spot.
I was told years ago that you should keep her bum cool which persuades her to give up being broody.
Works for me anyway.

[Millymollymandy]

Just leave them be! Mine will get up and feed and water themselves and have a poo at least once a day anyway.

[Odsox]

Just leave them be! Mine will get up and feed and water themselves and have a poo at least once a day anyway.

Yes they will, but then they immediately go back to the nest box ... and will stay broody for 3 weeks or more.
Caging them persuades them not to, and they get back into laying eggs again.

[red]

What do you do?

one of our hens goes broody. have noticed she lays about 24 eggs.. ie 24 days since she comes into lay, then broods. so far what we have done is given her some fertile eggs to sit on and now we have chickens nearly big enough to eat!

I don't believe they will actually starve themselves to death, they do get off the nest once a day for food water and poo. condition does deteriorate though.

[Millymollymandy]

Just leave them be! Mine will get up and feed and water themselves and have a poo at least once a day anyway.

Yes they will, but then they immediately go back to the nest box ... and will stay broody for 3 weeks or more.
Caging them persuades them not to, and they get back into laying eggs again.

My words "just leave them be" are in answer to "what do you do" rather than replying to or commenting on your posting!

I just leave mine be because anything else is a pain in the butt and dealing with a broody hen is time consuming. Also I don't need the eggs as I've got more duck eggs than I know what to do with!

[MINESAPINT]

Well true to form the chook in question was broody last night. I pinched the egg from under her and removed her from the nest box in the vain hope she will rejoin the others on the perches. If she is broody this morning it will be the broody cage for her for a few days.

I have always understood I was being cruel to be kind, a few days solitary being less stressful to the bird than an indefinite period of being broody, having her hopes raised with the others laying eggs for her on a daily basis then me coming along and pinching them.

[old tree man]

oooooh duck eggs, i love them they are quite hard to come by around here, thinking of getting some of my own ducks but i found in the past that they are messy to keep, still my favourite are goose eggs, yum

Russ

[MINESAPINT]

Just reminded me. Many years ago I ate a duck egg cooked like I would eat a hens egg ie runny yolk. I became extremely ill and ended up at the doctors. I remember his diagnosis. Salmonella. There is no cure. You will live or you will die but you will probably live. I have not been near a duck egg since!

[old tree man]

I'm sure it was just bad luck, i have eaten duck, goose,quail, chicken and all other types of eggs all my life and never had any problems.

Russ

[Millymollymandy]

I wish I could send you some duck eggs, Russ!

[jampot]

it may be a bantam thing but when we first got our "ladies " one was so insistent in sitting she didnt get up even with eggs removed she sat and starved not had it happen to the others tho and hopefully should have some chicks soon-ish

[Blue]

1 of our Hens is broody and we have tried to get her off the nest when ever we are on our plot.
But as we live a good way away from the plot we aren't always there so She will go back to the nest.
I know this may sound daft but could she make the others broody????
I told you it was daft
Or I could alway bring her home and see how see goes here.
But we have 2 JRT dogs here and they are not to friendly.
Mind that would take her mind off being broody, wouldn't it????
Blue (Nickyg)

[old tree man]

I wish I could send you some duck eggs, Russ!

how about training them to fly to me lay a few then fly back (pigeons can home)

Russ

[Millymollymandy]

1 of our Hens is broody and we have tried to get her off the nest when ever we are on our plot.
But as we live a good way away from the plot we aren't always there so She will go back to the nest.
I know this may sound daft but could she make the others broody????
I told you it was daft
Or I could alway bring her home and see how see goes here.
But we have 2 JRT dogs here and they are not to friendly.
Mind that would take her mind off being broody, wouldn't it????
Blue (Nickyg)

I don't know if she could make the others broody or not. It's a very good question not a daft one!