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feemcg

1st Broody!

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None of my chooks have gone broody before, but now Katie, my Wheaten Maran has decided to give it a go.

When I introduced the ducklings they slept in a pet carrier and Katie has always laid her eggs in there so I didn't have the heart to take it out once the ducks stopped using it. She's the only one who uses it, and it looks like I've given her the perfect hidey hole :roll: . So far she's been in there for 2 days and 2 nights, all flattened out like a pancake with piles of fluffy, downy feathers round her. She came out when I came home from work yesterday, but she may just have been out to drink and eat then. As far as I know there are no eggs under her.

.....so the question is, do I let her sit? Coincidently I have Maran eggs coming on Friday from the same place I got her egg from. I suppose if she gave up I could put the eggs in the incy as it will be on anyway for the others.

Thoughts anyone?

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I turfed Nutmeg off the nest after a couple of days, mainly because I needed to clean out the eglu and run. At first she just sat on the roosting bars where I had put her, looking confused and slightly annoyed, but when I shooed her into the ark she attacked the bowl of pellets like a starving man! So, it might be worth shutting Katie somewhere she can't sit on a nestbox, so she can refuel.

 

Moving Nutmeg to the ark seems to have broken her of the habit... :)

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my Star has been broody just over 2 weeks now. :roll:

 

We have tried the broody pen and dunking in cold water to no avail. I will let her sit but every so often I will turf her out the cube and shut the door so she has to get up and about. I did worry about her not eating but she seems to stock up once she's up.

 

Have you seen the size of the poos?! :shock: it all comes out in one big ball. :shock:

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One of mine was broody last year. She puffed herself up, growled and hissed and pecked and refused to come off the nest.

 

I turfed her off as often as I could and kept a frozen blue ice-pack in the nest box to cool her down.

 

When I was sure that everyone else had laid, I closed the Eglu door.

 

The best way to snap them out of it is to use a broody cage like this one.

Raised off the floor so that a cold draught circulates, and with nowhere to sit.

 

broody%20coup.jpg

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My silkie x is broody for the 3rd time. The first time I broke her of it after only about 4 days but she went 6 weeks without laying. The 2nd time I just turfed her off a couple of times a day to eat but more or less left her to it. She started laying after 5 weeks. This time (just 4 weeks later :roll: ) I'm just turfing her off the nest a couple of times a day because breaking the broodiness doesn't seem to have any benefit as long the the hen is still eating and drinking.

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Well, she came out when I did the evening corn so I was able to confirm she wasn't sitting on anything. She last laid 2 days ago but I wasn't sure if she had today - so I dived in the house and got her last 2 eggs and put them in the box. When I went back out a wee while later she was back in sittting. If she stays put till Friday, my French Copper Maran eggs will be here and I'll replace the eggs for (hopefully) fertile ones.

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