Cheeky Chooky Posted March 29, 2012 Share Posted March 29, 2012 Kitty has gone broody over the last couple of days, bless her This morning we made a makeshift 'broody pen' using bits of the eglu run which were in the garage and it's working really well I let her out when I got in from work so she's had a good few hours running around The Prisoner First thing the others wanted to do was get into this wonderful new place! And the first thing Kitty wanted to do was have a good bath Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monty14 Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 I too have a broody cage and the other gals all wanted to get in it! Daisy goes broody at the drop of a hat, but it seems to shorten the broody period if they are isolated like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeky Chooky Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 It certainly does...Kitty was only in it during the day for 2 days and she was back to normal. I've now got Matilda at it so it's back out with the prison tomorrow morning Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LolaLayla Posted April 8, 2012 Share Posted April 8, 2012 I have had my two Silkie girls since the end of Jan and almost straight away Trixie went broody. She was in the cage (room 101 as OH calls it) for 3 days which fixed it. Then Estelle had a turn and now Trixie is just finishing another 3 day period in there. The cage is in the rabbits WIR and they wait under the cage to get any dropped food as they love it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Lucie has gone broody and I need to put her in the broody cage, but when I turf her out of the nest box (which I'm just about to do) she does run around the garden quite happily and eats and drinks and so she keeps fooling me that she's getting over it. Oh well...I'll go and size up the old dog cage and see if it's big enough to fit her in...I'm a bit worried because she's a big girl and I don't want her not to be able to move about at all.... I'm not sure that just fencing off a bit of the run would do the trick for her though...I thought the broody cage had to be off the ground for the air to circulate and cool them down but maybe I have that wrong? Edited to add...I am very about your run set up Cheeky Chooky.... It's lovelyx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adelochick Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Well I'd like some advice please on 'broodiness' too. I've got pekin bantams, and have been using a small wire cage for my broody Speckles as suggested by omleteers (putting her back into the coop at night with the others, and the nesting box blocked, as it seemed to be too cold to leave her outside at night). This had been going on for about a week, when I noticed that her comb looked odd (flattened at the front, pale in colour) so decided on Saturday to stop putting her in the cage, as I felt the bars had caused this damage as she tried to find a way out. Anyway, we've been turfing her out of the nestbox to give the other three layers in the WIR a chance to use it over the weekend, but to my horror yesterday afternoon we discovered Dolally's comb covered in blood and much reduced! Speckles had obviously attacked her as she was not going to let her into the nestbox. Fortunately after cleaning Dolally up I sprayed the top of her head carefully with the 'purple spray' from my hen first-aid kit, and Speckles was duly put back in 'coventry' in a pet carrier I'd bought for them in case of bullying. I've now put a Rollaway Nestbox into the WIR this afternoon, in the hope that the pekins will get used to it and hopefully lay in that too. Using a small wire cage set off the ground on bricks to allow air to circulate underneath Speckles just hasn't worked in halting her broodiness, and after the horror of the attack on Dolally's head yesterday I'm feeling a bit lost on what to do next. So if anyone can give me some ideas I'd be most grateful. Also can I ask if the damage inflicted on Dolally's comb is likely to be permanent, or will it heal/grow back to look more like it used to? Many thanks, Julie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sadietoo Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Well I have (reluctantly) put Lucie in a broody cage today, and have just moved her into the shed for overnight, since I don't like the idea of her being "exposed" as it were in the cube run overnight, should foxy-loxy come visiting.. Could you put Speckles somewhere equally safe, but not in or near the nest box with the others? It may also lower her place in the pecking order when she is finally allowed out and hopefully stop any bullying habits in their tracks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NannyOgg Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 to my horror yesterday afternoon we discovered Dolally's comb covered in blood and much reduced! Speckles had obviously attacked her as she was not going to let her into the nestbox. I was faced with this horrible sight last week, our lovely pekin Sprinkle who seems to spend her life broody, was attacked by an as yet unidentified (but there is most certainly 'the usual suspect!) assailant...I isolated Sprinkle for the day as we were both at work, and she's now back on her own again...but for a much nicer reason - she's sitting on some eggs Here's a piccie of her when we found her after the attack: And a little video of her returning to her nest after an enforced snack break today : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaspersmum Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Eek! Hope she's feeling much better now. Chickens are such strange souls. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House MD 221B Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Loving the broody pen! may have to create something similar should we face this problem again, Our little bantam Angua used to go broody every other day Poor Peckee, hope she has a speedy recovery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adelochick Posted April 9, 2012 Share Posted April 9, 2012 Thanks for the suggestion Sadietoo, I'll make some space for Speckles in our shed for tomorrow night as they are hopefully settled for a peaceful overnight now. NannyOgg, that's just what Dolally looked like in your first photo! Do pekins have a nasty streak when they're broody, or are all hens like that? Love the video of Sprinkle settling herself on top of all those eggs, she's a real poppet! Jx. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
House MD 221B Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 @ Adelochick Our Pekin didn't get aggressive when broody, in fact she got incredibly dopey and even more docile if that's possible. But that's just one chicken, they're all different, be she lived broody no matter what we did. Hope this is of some use and I'm sure others will supply more experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NannyOgg Posted April 10, 2012 Share Posted April 10, 2012 NannyOgg, that's just what Dolally looked like in your first photo! Do pekins have a nasty streak when they're broody, or are all hens like that? Love the video of Sprinkle settling herself on top of all those eggs, she's a real poppet! Jx. Hi Adelochick, our resident bully is Sparkle, our Araucana Sprinkle was the broody, attacked because she wouldn't leave the nest box The attacker has never been broody, she's just a born bully Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
