Unsecure chicken perches

[penelope]

Hi There

 

One of my girls that we hatched ourselves a year ago appears to have gone broodie.

 

She is on the nest more often than not for the last 2 days & puffs herself up & puts her wings over some pretend babies & tells us off.

 

We do not want to put eggs under her( daughter has other ideas!) but we do have a supply if needed.

 

Am I right in thinking that as long as we collect the other eggs as soon as they are laid & keep putting her out of the eglu she will stop or is there anything else I should do.

 

We do have a wir plus the old eglu run so i suppose I could let her hatch some bantams but do I really need more hens & the worry of introducing the other 2 to the chicks.

 

Oh dear whats best!!

 

luv penelope

[Tweety]

Hi, the best way to stop her being broody is to put her in a broody cage for 3 days, day and night. The cage should be up off the ground so that air can circulate underneath the broody hen to cool her down.

I have found that this is the quickest and most reliable way of snapping them out of it.

[penelope]

Thanks very much Tweety,

 

If I do nothing will she stop of her own accord or is it best to try to speed things up.

 

I am slinging her out of the eglu for a free range with the others several times a day so that she will eat & drink but i am still tempted to put some eggs under her ( supplied from a friend).

If we decided to let her hatch we could divide up the wir so she could be seperate from the other 2. I presume we should do that as soon as she is sitting on eggs or could they be left together for longer.

 

Thanks for your advice

 

Penelope

[Lewis]

If you were going to hatch (need to think about what to do with cockerel etc) you will need to separate her from the others for a couple of days, set her on any eggs to check she is broody and then swap them for the fertile eggs one night.

 

If you want to snap her out of it you will need to use a cage - she will sit for a good few weeks until you snap her out of it.

[penelope]

Thanks very much for the advice.

 

There is no problems with the cockerels as they can go back to the yard( that way we still see them unless they are sold)

 

We still see the other 2 boys,one of which might be the chosen daddy if we decide to go ahead as he now has his own little flock who are laying all the time so we could have some of their eggs.

 

She is going to be looked after someone else here at home for the next 3 days so maybe that will be a perfect time to shut her in. I do have a wire indoor cage & could rig up something to make it less comfy!! Sounds awful but she is very persistant at nesting & I know its got to be eggs or stop it before she makes herself ill.She only gets off the nest if I pick her off & kick her out of the run, even then she will only have a tiny bit to eat,a dust bath & a drink then goes straight back however many thimes I do it. If I shut the door to the run she has made another " nest" outside. Need to have a good long think about what is best.

 

Pescky birds, it would be far easier if they were just chickens rather than my "girls"!

 

Thanks a lot

 

Penelope.