How To Stop A Broody Hen From Staying Broody

Mike Breder : Hi Gina, Thanks for your newsletter. I have a question for you. I have 4 hens including an Americauna, Rhode Island Red, Ancona and Buff Orpington. Our Buff (Jupiter) the big girl became rather broody a month ago and while we had to leave town for the weekend, I decided to seperate her from the other girls so my chickensitter / my mom didn't have to pick her up and get pecked moving her out of the nest box. I usually just toss her out of the nest box to try and break things up a little, but she makes her way back there. Nevertheless, while we were out of town and Jupiter was serving her time in our dog kennel detention facility away from the others, she had time to think about her crimes and when I returned I let her back in the coop and whamo....no more broodiness. Well until a week ago anyways. Now a month since her 1st trip to the pen, I am getting ready to send her to the dog kennel again, but sometimes she's on the eggs and sometimes she's off......more on than off, but I don't want this to become a problem. Do you have any pointers? My research says that Buff Orpingtons tend to be a broody breed. As much as I'd like to cull her from our flock and onto our barbeque, my boys would be devasted and my wife would dissaprove (and I really don't think I could do it anyways). I was wondering if you could put this on your blog. I would love to get some tips from other backyard chicken folks. Thanks for your time. Mike Breder. Citrus County

Broody hens can be a law unto themselves, and they can go broody with or without fertilised eggs to sit on. If you have a broody you will probably already recognise the signs. When broody, hens are very single minded and will want to sit on the eggs almost constantly, taking only brief breaks for food and the toilet (sometimes they forget to even do that). She may pull out some of the feathers from her belly to feather her nest and allow her to feel the eggs directly on her skin. She could get aggressive screeching and even pecking at anyone who gets close. She will also probably have 'broody poos' (the not very nice result of keeping everything held in for hours on end!).

This is all very well if you want her to hatch chicks, but if you don't (or it's not possible) long periods of broodiness can take their toll on her health and so it is sometimes necessary to take action to stop her being broody.

One of the broody signs - A broody hen screeching to be left alone

When broody her body temperature will rise and she will obviously want to get herself comfortable ready for several weeks of being on the nest. The main ideas for stopping broodys are centred around stoping her getting herself too comfortable. Sometimes it can be as simple as removing her from the nests several times a day, but a determined broody can be hard to dissuade. The main method I have seen for persistent broodys (which is basically the same as Mike's dog kennel detention facility), is to put her in a raised wire cage (or wooden / plastic one with a slatted bottom) for a few days with food and water but no comfy bedding - the idea being that the cool air around her 'bits' and lack of comfort deters her from wanting to settle and hatch eggs. Another method common in 'the old days' which is still sometimes used is to dunk her in a pail of cool (but not really cold) water which will bring her brooding temperature down and perhaps make her indignant enough to give up on being broody altogether. This video shows one keepers broody hen 'Pipi' getting the cold water treatment - she had been broody for 3 days and two dips in the water was enough in this case to snap her out of it.

A keen rooster can also 'bother' the broodiness out of a broody hen (if he's brave enough to!).

Keeping Chickens Entertained

Paul Scott : "Hi Gina Many thanks for your newsletter - it's great to see all the different stories that your readers send in. I'm Paul, a relative newcomer compared to some of your readers. My wife Jo, and daughters Kayleigh (9) and Shannon (7) love our chickens. I bought six young laying hens last year and after about 2 months we were all truly pleased to find them gradually start to produce eggs. I had heard somewhere that the egg colour is not connected to the breed of bird - ha. We have two Warrens (laying golden eggs), 2 Bluebells (laying slightly purple/brown eggs), 1 White Star (massive white eggs) and 1 Black Rock (smaller darker brown eggs). The plan was to have them laying eggs for a couple of years, and then replace them (i.e. have them for dinner whilst bringing in new ones). Unfortunately, our girls gave names to the chickens as soon as I brought them home and any mention of eating them brings tears to their eyes...I guess that's one subject we'll tackle in a couple of years time! Our coop is a converted dogs kennel, a stone building for nesting and roosting and a large run for them to scratch around in. They all seem pretty content, and have put on a pretty decent weight over the past 6 months. However, recently (and this is one of my reasons for writing) two of the hens (black rock and bluebell) have started to lose feathers around their "saddle" area - I believe that's the correct terminology. I've tried to read up on the subject but cannot find any reason (or cure) for this. I'm presuming that they are being bullied by some of the more dominant hens but when watching them in the run I don't see any evidence for this. Any suggestions? Keep up the good work. Kindest regards Paul Ps - the chickens are called Clucky, Mylie, Hannah, Sandy, Penny and Lily"

Often missing feathers around the saddle area can indicate an over attentive rooster, but as these are all laying hens that is obviously not very likely :-)

There are several reasons why hens can peck at each other (beyond the usual pecking order scuffles) things like overcrowding, boredom and nutritional deficiency (methionine). If there is no pecking going on then it might even be lice or mites causing the feather loss. In past issues of the newsletter I have covered different aspects of feather loss a few times, but I don't think I have ever given any suggestions for boredom - and that can be one of the most fun things to do for your chickens.

The things they most enjoy are free-ranging to find food, so things that emulate that are quite good fun for them. It is not always practical for chickens to free range very much so setting up a few little 'challenges' inside their coop or pen can be a good way to keep them occupied. Really it is a case of experimenting and finding out what particular challenges your girls (and boys) enjoy the most. One quite popular idea is hanging a whole cabbage or lettuce or apple etc. from a pole or from the coop off the ground (if using string it should not be too long to minimise any chance of entanglement). Or how about something with bugs in (such as a clump of earth and grass which they can enjoy picking apart). The possibilities are endless :-)

Bev Wagar : "I made the girls a 'pecksicle' - a suet feeder fastened to a stick, filled with peckable stuff like cabbage, lettuce, carrots, apple. These are foods they have trouble with, since their beaks have to peck out little bite-sized chunks, and the stuff will roll away as they peck. These ones also fight over this stuff.

The 'pecksicle' lets them peck from all directions (less fighting!). The food stays clean, and the girls stay entertained all day."

(In the photo they're gobbling down their yogurt treat, so are ignoring the pecksicle.)

What is Green Bone? (feeding chickens)

'Green bone' is a bone that is fresh from the butchers, contains all the natural juices and with more or less fresh meat stuck to it. (source 'Success With Poultry')