tamsinr Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Hi I am a first time chicken owner, its something that i've wanted to do with the family for a long time and about 2 months ago we got our girls, just 2 to start with, meg and mog. Mog is doing very well and laying beautiful eggs daily, but Meg is another case, at first she would lay 2 eggs every other day and one of them would be soft, so we started to keep them in the run until they both layed which worked well but now she has gone broody. am i doing something wrong or do i just have a contrairy hen???? please help. many thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hillfamily Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Hi tamsinr, welcome to the forum :D I have moved this post to the Chicken Section as you will get more replies and help When chooks first start laying it can be a bit hit and miss until they are used laying and get things sorted. Although it sounds a though you have sorted this problem If she has gone broody then you can snap her out of it by either dunking her in cold water which will lower her temperature and stop her being broody. Also removing the eggs as soon as they have laid will help as she will have nothing to sit on. If that doesn't work, you will have to pop her in a broody cage for 24 -48 hours. A mesh pet carrier works well. Pop her in with a bowl of water and food and raise it slightly off the ground so that air can circulate all around. After 24 hours (48 hours if she's really broody), take her out and she should be cured for the time being. She will probably go broody again later in the year, and you'll just to repeat the above. Good luck and if you need anymore help, just ask Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeckyBoo Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 I replied to this once and lost the bloomin post!! Anyway, welcome! Some chickens go broody more than others so it depends what sort you've got - I think pekins are known to be broody. I don't do the dunk thing as I'm not arond enough but three days in a rabbit hutch with no bedding and just food and water normally sorts them out. Also if you're getting lots of softies you can always try adding limestone flour to their food, or oyster shell. And I bake the egg shells, crush them and feed them back to them as a source of calcium. Don't worry, once she gets over the broodiness they'll only give you something else to think about! BeckyBoo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ain't Nobody Here Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Welcome to the forum, Tamsinr . Excellent advice above - will just add that I've used a puppy crate which I put the offending hen in for a couple of days. Usually does the trick . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atsw Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 Hi, and another warm welcome to the forum . All hens have their own, very distinct, character, even within specific breeds. Your two sound like a case in point . The excellent advise above should snap her out of it, but if you're at all unsure about anything, please just ask - there is always someone who has been there before and can help. Another option, which might be of interest, is allowing her to brood on fertile eggs. Do you have friends or neighbours who also keep chickens? Many more experienced chicken keepers are now expanding their flocks by raising their own chicks rather than buying new POL hens. While this can be done with an incubator, a broody hen is very much the best option. In my village (where there's now a disproportionately large number of folks with back garden chooks ) there's been fair amount of chicken swapping recently, with people lending out their broody hens to incubate eggs for others. Andrew Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickencrazy1 Posted June 15, 2009 Share Posted June 15, 2009 hi Tamzin I hope they'll get the hang of it, i would give the same advice as above, a very warm welcome and good luck with the chookies!!! Take a look here ~ it should help you to learn about broody chookies!!! http://www.ruleworks.co.uk/poultry/broody.htm Hopefully it will help!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
