We have a broody hen!!! how can i stop her being broody..she will not come out of the coop to eat..i read that you should not feed them inside where they are nesting as this just encourages them to stay put

juliex

__________________

Hiya

You would have to take her eggs away.

Zo
x

Hi

We do...but she just sits and waits of another hen laying one then she is right back on them....if we put her out of the coop ...she just runs back in to nest..poor hen wants baby chicks
Problem is also they are in a garden away from our house..ten min walk away

__________________

Problem is .. its nearly Nov! Imagine chicks at the end of Nov, dark, cold winter, or are you not in the UK?

Keep taking the hen out away from the eggs, which must be collected regularly away from her. Can you fence her off with food and drink and no nest from the others nesting boxes? We do this and it stops them in a day or so.

cheers we will try and sort something out...we don't want chicks i dont think she is laying any herself just sitting on everyone elses..yes we are in the UK

juliex

__________________

I was told to put our broody hen in a box in the dark for a couple of days and leave her, dont know if it works but might be worth a try, your hen will come off nest to feed sometime im sure ours did.

Goodie something I can help withm ( I'm new to site as I'm getting two kittens but have been keeping chickens for a few years)

Hi, you coud just let her be broody and let her get it out of her system, you can buy rubber eggs for her to i on (a hen will just lay more until she feels she has enough to sit on). My local poultry farm sell them asdoes the feed merchants but I think they are easily available online too.

Not sure ho many ladies you have but you could either let her be broody in the hen house or give her own pad. The trouble with the later is that if she's away too long she'll be much lower in he peking order on her return. I always let mine be. Which ever you decide take her of the eggs once a day to go to the loo, she needs to do this at least once a day and will need prompting

If you really want her to stop be broody then you could make a brooder box. Basically you want to create a base/floor that will let the cold air through to get her underneath temp down. Normally it will take about 4 days to a week to work. My friends have used one before. It has a wire mesh base with wooden perches on top.

Always, always make food and water available as to deprive them would be cruel. A hen with a lack opf both will only get weak and they aren't that great at eating when broody anyway.

Hope that helps

Not sure about putting her in a box for a couple of days! That will probably just cause her severe stress!!!! The drop in temp should deter her, along with taking her eggs away and putting them all to bed when it gets dusk. Rubber eggs also a good idea, if she has nothing fertile to sit on then just let her get on with it, she will get fed up sooner or later!

zo
x