What do I do if my hen is broody? Choice 2. Try to discourage her- Breaking a broody.
If you have a broody hen and have decided you don't want her to incubate a clutch of eggs you need to 'break' her from her broody state.
There are several reasons why it is best to discourage her.
1. I f she is a determined broody she will sit and sit and sit, eggs or no eggs under her. All the time she is sitting she won't be laying and if you are keeping hens for eggs it is one hen less producing. She will also gradually loose condition if she isn't leaving the nest too often to eat or drink.
2. If she is left in the nest box of the hen house she will cause chaos. If feisty she'll upset the other hens and may prevent them from coming into the house to lay. If they do lay in the nest box the broody may 'steal' all the freshly laid eggs, tucking them under her. This can lead to broken eggs and possibly start egg eating, not a habit you would want to encourage.
3. One broody often leads to many a broody hen as the others follow suit.
As always opinions on how to break a broody are many and varied, although I think most keepers now agree putting a hen into a bucket of cold water isn't recommended!
If your hen has just started to go broody and you are about most of the day, frequently lifting her from the nest and putting her in the run may work.
If I have several broody hens at the same time I will sometimes put them into a pen with a flock of birds and cockerel they aren't familiar with. Just the change will often 'break' them.
I have found the most successful, quickest and safest way is to place the broody in a large wire dog grate, raised slightly off the ground, with a cover on the top of the cage and of course food and water inside for her.The cage placed in shade within sight of her flock and put in a shed overnight. After 3 days she will usually have decided motherhood wasn't for her after all.
If you have a broody hen and have decided you don't want her to incubate a clutch of eggs you need to 'break' her from her broody state.
There are several reasons why it is best to discourage her.
1. I f she is a determined broody she will sit and sit and sit, eggs or no eggs under her. All the time she is sitting she won't be laying and if you are keeping hens for eggs it is one hen less producing. She will also gradually loose condition if she isn't leaving the nest too often to eat or drink.
2. If she is left in the nest box of the hen house she will cause chaos. If feisty she'll upset the other hens and may prevent them from coming into the house to lay. If they do lay in the nest box the broody may 'steal' all the freshly laid eggs, tucking them under her. This can lead to broken eggs and possibly start egg eating, not a habit you would want to encourage.
3. One broody often leads to many a broody hen as the others follow suit.
As always opinions on how to break a broody are many and varied, although I think most keepers now agree putting a hen into a bucket of cold water isn't recommended!
If your hen has just started to go broody and you are about most of the day, frequently lifting her from the nest and putting her in the run may work.
If I have several broody hens at the same time I will sometimes put them into a pen with a flock of birds and cockerel they aren't familiar with. Just the change will often 'break' them.
I have found the most successful, quickest and safest way is to place the broody in a large wire dog grate, raised slightly off the ground, with a cover on the top of the cage and of course food and water inside for her.The cage placed in shade within sight of her flock and put in a shed overnight. After 3 days she will usually have decided motherhood wasn't for her after all.
