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Tessa the Duchess

Broody hen RANT!!

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Okay I am really fed up with this. Annie is into her sixth day of being stupid and broody. I have done everything suggested by all of you....I have thrown her up in the air loads of times, I have dunked her in a trugtub of cold water twice a day, last night I got so ticked off with her that I took her aside and gave her a long talking to explaining to her that I have a very nice bottle of red wine in the cupboard, and she could be Coq au Vin if she doesn't snap out of it and pull her little chookie socks up :!: I have a basketball, bigger than a football in the nesting box and she curls herself around it. She is affecting the other two because I have to let her into the nesting box while the other two lay, and they end up laying on the bars because she wont budge. :evil: If I close the Eglu door she just stands in front of it peering pathetically through the ventilation hole. I have a large cat carrying basket which I am thinking of imprisoning her in, but I don't know what I could use for feeders for her, and because it is wicker three sides with a wire door I'm

scared that a fox would make short work of chewing through the wicker.

I guess I'm just going to have to let her go through it, how long does broodiness last :?: Thank you for listening, I just needed to blow my top :roll:

 

Tessa

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Tessa, the broody cage works - at least it did for us 4 times over the summer :roll:

 

Just put a small heavy pot with some water in,most people find they snap out of it quicker if they have no food. broodys don't eat much anyhow.

Pop the cage on blocks,so she gets s cool breeze on her nethers,& I reckon she will be back to her old self in a couple of days 8)

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yes the wyandottes we have are very broody but 2-3 days in isolation in the cold no bed just wind shelter always works a treat,

 

The other thing I found worked was buying fertilized eggs they haven't been broody since! Typical I ended up buying an incubator!!!

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[Tessa, the broody cage works - at least it did for us 4 times over the summer :roll:

 

Cinnamon you have convinced me, I will do this tomorrow, it is pouring with rain out there right now, don't feel like faffing about with cages and a stupid

hen :evil: Mostly I was worried about the water/food situation, but if you say she will be fine with a bowl of water I will give it a go. I will report back if I have success. Thankyou.

 

Tessa

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and because it is wicker three sides with a wire door I'm

scared that a fox would make short work of chewing through the wicker.

I guess I'm just going to have to let her go through it, how long does broodiness last :?: Thank you for listening, I just needed to blow my top :roll:

 

Tessa

 

put it in the run

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Bron wrote

 

put it in the run

 

Yep, I thought of that too, I will either put it in the run or lock her in the

garden shed. I am not happy about doing this, feels terrible, I just hope

she will be ok without food for a couple of days. I must NOT get cold feet in the middle of the night and get up and pop her back in the warm Eglu....sigh

 

Tessa :roll::roll:

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Today Annie was incarcerated in broody chicken prison - it was not a great success :( I got the cat basket, put it in the shed with a bowl of water and

a bowl of pellets and then put a very grumpy hen inside. Within 4 secs. she had overturned the food bowl :evil: back to the house for a heavier bowl,when I returned to her she had kicked over the water bowl :evil::evil: return to house for a MUCH heavier bowl, found the bowl from the pestle and mortar, made of marble, she will never kick that over :roll: left her, went back half an hour later, she had kicked that over too :evil::evil: by this time the cat basket and hen were sitting in this horrible gloopy mess of pellets, water and chicken poo, I just couldn't leave her like that, so she is back in the Eglu run....round 1 to Annie :evil: The only good thing is that DH is away right now, he is very 'funny' about his shed, it's a bloke thang, he would have a fit from hell if he could see the state of the shed floor, so I've got to clean it all up and I've still got a ******* broody hen :cry::cry:

 

 

Tessa

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Do yours free range at all? We had a hen go broody for FIVE WEEKS in the summer, everyone else stopped laying as she was such a horrid old grump In the end I threw her out to free range on her own and left the others shut in, they got all the food and water and access to the nest and she got to stand out in the wind and rain (it was the summer!) all day long. Worked in about 3-4 days as far as I remember. It's a total pain when they go broody isn't it, hope you crack it soon

 

Mrs Bertie

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I gave my broody a frozen blue ice pack thingummybob whatsit to hatch this summer. Changed it 4 times a day, and booted her out of the Eglu regularly. It worked in about 4-5 days as I recall.

 

She is a martyr to her hormones poor chook. She is undergoing the most spectacular moult at the mo.

 

Not sure if she is laying or not.

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It's a total pain when they go broody isn't it, hope you crack it soon

 

A TOTAL pain :evil: Thanks for the suggestions, I'm sure she would find a way of ripping the yoghourt pots off the bars, and I can't supervise her freeranging all day, I might try the icecube trick tomorrow. I have almost come round to the idea that what she is doing is natural, she is not ill, maybe I shouldn't mess with nature, just let her get on with it making sure she gets enough food and water. See how I feel tomorrow.

 

Tessa.

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Hi Tessa,

 

I agree that it's "natural" for chickens to go broody but one of mine was broody for about 5 weeks without any signs of stopping. I had started by adopting a "wait and see" position. Mistake! If she HAD been sitting on fertilised eggs they'd have hatched after 3 weeks and she would have been up and about eating and drinking normally again; I came to the conclusion that although her behaviour was "natural", perhaps chickens aren't physiologically equipped to be broody for as long as mine was and that I really should take action, because all that time she barely ate, drank and exercised. Shutting her out of the Eglu was ineffective so I fashioned a broody box out of a bird cage and she was as right as rain within 48 hours. She tried the old broody trick again a couple of months later but this time I was ready - popped her straight into the cage and all was well again within 24 hours.

 

I know it's a pain when they chuck food and water about etc., but I would persevere with the cage if I were you.

 

Good luck!

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