4m x 3m Omlet pen, cube, new auto door still boxed and coop light

[wenhen]

Hi

 

Fern has been broody since Friday and has spent all the time that she can on the nest box puffed out to a huge size. I noticed Sunday that she had pulled out all the feather on her stomach.

 

Does it actually do her any harm being broody? I work full time so can't spend the day taking her off the nest and can't put the flower pot in it during the day as the other two wouldn't be able to lay.

 

Do the cold baths really work? And is there anything else I can do while I am out during the day.

 

When I got home yesterday I got her out of the nest and gave her some corn to eat and tried to make a drink a bit. As we have "Chicken Cam" I know that she isn't coming out of the house to eat or drink. Can she starve herself or would a survival instinct kick in?

 

Any other advise I can use? (I have read the details on the "Broody Hen" section and my chicken books).

 

Thanks!!

[Egluntyne]

If you want to snap her out of it, a broody cage would be ideal...and probably quickest....as you are out at work.

 

A secure dog crate, up on bricks will do the trick nicely.

[Daphne]

Egluntine's advice should work for you. Broodies lose an awful lot of condition as they are 'programmed' to sit and don't seem to feel much need to eat/drink/poo - which unfortunately can easily get them quite run down if they aren't persuaded off the nest at regular intervals to do the necessary. Re cold bath - the only experience I have is with a very fluffy breed and putting her on a freezer block overnight did no good at all; by morning it was a handwarmer!

[wenhen]

Thanks Eglutine and Daphne - I'll have to see if I can get hold of a dog crate.

 

The cold bath did seem rather harsh especially in the cold weather (guess that is the point though).

 

Does it do the eggs any harm, from an eating point of view, if there are being kept warm during the day?

 

Think that the flowerpot is going the same way as an iceblock - it looked rather sat on this morning.

[Daphne]

I would have thought the eggs would be OK, we've always eaten ours.

[Purplemaniacs]

Both Ebony and Ivory had periods of broodiness last year, we ate the eggs that had been sat on while I was at work.

 

In the end we used a broody cage as Egluntine described and that worked, I did try ice packs but they didn't

 

Chrissie

[Barkisland]

My Light Sussex has been broody for about 4 weeks now and, like you, I'm at work all day so she has just been sitting it out. I get her out of the nest every morning, she has a quick feed and drink, and does the biggest, stinkiest poo before going straight back on the nest.

I figure if she does a poo that big, she must be eating more than I actually see her eat.

I nip down and steal the eggs from under her in the evening. We've been eating them, and they're fine. She stopped laying weeks ago and just sits on the others eggs.

She's pulled out loads of neck and breast feathers, and she is more docile - she used to be top chook, but now she doesn't retaliate when they peck at her. I've noticed her comb has shrunk a lot, and gone pale. I'm hoping the broody phase will end soon, but I think she will always have the tendency to be broody as she only laid her first egg on NYE!

[TheCoop]

Dolly, our Buff Cochin, was broody for about 2 months last summer (nothing yet this year!).

 

Dunking her in cold water was a complete waste of time.

 

She was fully clamped to the nest box, but when I got her off it and put her outside, she seemed to snap out of it for a little while - long enough to poo, preen, eat, drink and strut around - before she went nuts again, desperately trying to get back in.

 

We just rode it out in the end. I couldn't be bothered and thought eventually she'll snap out of it, which she did. She did make a concession to the others though, inasmuch that she got off the nest box and sat in the straw so the others could lay!

 

A very frustrating time though!

[Chillicat]

Did the complete opposite of everyone else posted so far

I had a Pepperpot who went broody for the second time within three months and she was only 6 months old herself! So, I bought some hatching eggs, and took out a second mortgage to fund my habit as I had to set up a broody coop. Yep, got my broody to hatch 2 chicks out of the six and it was the best experience EVER . I then had to purchase an Eglu to nurture the chicks in as broody Flower decided to move back into the cube with her original flock!

PS The chicks she hatched are on the Omlet newsletter, second pic down....two buff sussex!

[littleredhen]

Chillicat, I was as bad as you last year. Our two banties went broody, I tried to snap them out of it with no luck so I got some hatching eggs off ebay (expense number 1). The two girls sat on the same nest until the long awaited hatching day came. One chick had just started to hatch but next morning there was no sign of said chick or egg and the bantams decided they had had enough of this broody lark and abandoned the rest! I then took over the job of mother hen and tried to hatch the chicks myself (I did not sit on them needless to say) with hot water bottles and a desk lamp, 2 hatched successfully, two were not fertile and one was dead in its shell. So then we had two lovely silkie bantams. One looked a bit weak and I didn't think it would pull through so we got a couple of day old Poland chicks to keep the silkies company and to avoid being left with 1 chick on its own (more expense!). Hubby had to build a lovely brooder for them to live in (yet more expense!) The banties have now gone broody again but this time I am much wiser (and more skint) so they are being shut out of their house during the day and put in the eglu which is on concrete slabs so this will hopefully cool them down and get them back to normal.

[wenhen]

Just incase anyone was interested - today was Fern's first day of not being broody - she's been out in the run during the day and this evening when I get home she wasn't sat on the eggs or all puffed out.

 

We kept on lifting her off the nest when we could and put a flower pot in it when the other 2 had laid when we could. The snow was very helpful - as we kept on putting her in that to cool her done a bit.

[Barkisland]

Oh well done!

My Mary is still broody - it has been going on for at least 6 weeks now and I feel it will never end! She stays out for long enough to eat and drink, but as soon as she gets a chance she is back in the nest, sitting on someone elses eggs and puffed up like some sort of cartoon hen

[wenhen]

Wow! That is a long time. I did wonder if the cold night last night might have chilled it out of her!

 

Not sure that the other two will be so pleased that she no longer broody - think that they have been enjoying the food and space to themselves!

 

Hopefully Mary will stop it soon aswell too - does seem to be nothing we did made any real difference to her. They do look huge when they are all fluffed up.