Stopping broodiness - advice please

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gbrash

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Stopping broodiness - advice please
« on: September 01, 2013, 13:34 »
Hope someone's got some advice that isn't too extreme. I've got a Sussex Reverse who's been broody now for about 6 weeks. We remove her from the nest box every evening when we get home to make sure she gets food and water and started closing the door to the coop to stop her going back in too quickly, but she's being stubborn about it. Is there anything we can try to get her to stop being broody? She seems to be breaking her egg recently (not eating them thankfully) which is an additional worry. I don't want her twigging that it's an easy meal. I've read some very odd bits of advise such as swinging chickens around, locking them in the dark with no food for a couple of days etc, but frankly I'm not keen on these options!

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Sparkyrog

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #1 on: September 01, 2013, 16:30 »
put a dog cage on some bricks , put her in that with food and water somewhere safe ! preferably in a draft  :)
I cook therefore I grow

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stickmeup

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #2 on: September 01, 2013, 20:41 »
As above, I need to do it to one of mine aswell, been like this for about 2 weeks now

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Stablechooks

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #3 on: September 05, 2013, 18:19 »
Agree with Dog cage idea, we use second hand rabbit hutch with mesh floor for draft. Roof gives better sun and rain protection. Put water in with bird, but let out to feed in evening before roost. Hen will  then try to get to nesting box  - pick her up from there and put back in cage overnight - this is the key step - broody cycle normally breaks after 3-4 days.  We call our hutch the "fridge".
Ours were staying broody for 5-6 weeks when we let them back to "roost" with the others, but the hens just sat in the nesting box, got "hot" again and back to square one.
Good luck!
Learning... always learning!

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ehs284

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #4 on: September 06, 2013, 18:35 »
Stablechooks description  exactly fits our experience. I used a washing basket as the top of a cage with wire bottom. Always left food and water. Placed contraption close to coop under shelter and safe within fences. Six weeks to three days - a miracle. Nothing else had worked and even though she's in a small space, she wasn't moving from the nestbox, so I don't think there was any cruelty.

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Jomtie

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2013, 19:15 »
If you have a handy family member you can quite easily make an anti broody coop. My OH made one out of ply sheets and some left over 2'x2' timber with a lift up lid made out of laminate flooring strips and a mesh bottom to allow air circulation. We have a piece of MDF that we can drop into to cover the mesh base and slots to drop in a roosting bar, so it doubles as a segregation coop if we need it too. I posted a photo somewhere but can't find it now.
Hens - Clara (Bluebell) & little newbies Martha (Black Sussex) & Dora (Speckled Maran)
RIP Margot, Geraldine, Hettie,  Ruby & Tilly :(
Cats - Herbie (LH black moggy) Louie (Seal Point Ragdoll) Jazzi (Dilute Torbie) Peggy (g&w stray)
RIP Ollie (Seal Point Ragdoll) :(

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ANHBUC

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #6 on: September 16, 2013, 15:10 »
If you have a handy family member you can quite easily make an anti broody coop. My OH made one out of ply sheets and some left over 2'x2' timber with a lift up lid made out of laminate flooring strips and a mesh bottom to allow air circulation. We have a piece of MDF that we can drop into to cover the mesh base and slots to drop in a roosting bar, so it doubles as a segregation coop if we need it too. I posted a photo somewhere but can't find it now.

HERE is your post Jomtie.   ;)
Ain't Nobody Here But Us Chickens!
Bagpuss RIP 1992 - June 2012, 1 huge grass carp (RIP "Jaws" July 2001 - December 2011), 4 golden orfe, 1 goldfish and 1 fantail fish (also huge)! plus 4 Italian quail, 1 Japanese quail, 1 Rosetta quail.

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Diddy Gardener

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #7 on: September 16, 2013, 15:50 »
The dog cage or broody cage really works, has for me anyway... every time someone goes broody, into the cage they go - seems to break after 2-3 days.

It is really important, as an earlier poster said, to raise the cage up so that air can circulate and cool the chook down.  :)
Lucky Mother of 2 dogs, 2 cats (RiP Sherlock) and 4 chickens (welcome Brenda and Harriet)

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Jomtie

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #8 on: September 26, 2013, 19:46 »
Thanks for locating the pic ANHBUC.  :)

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barley

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Re: Stopping broodiness - advice please
« Reply #9 on: September 26, 2013, 20:12 »
The dog cage or broody cage really works, has for me anyway... every time someone goes broody, into the cage they go - seems to break after 2-3 days.

It is really important, as an earlier poster said, to raise the cage up so that air can circulate and cool the chook down.  :)

use exactly the same method above and it  works in 2 to 3 days everytime for me too  ;)



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