[Shoskyns]

Hi all.

One of my bantam orpingtons has been broody for 5 weeks now and I don't know what to do.  Being new to chicken keeping, I didn't realise until about the third day that she was broody.  I then spent the next 3 days keeping her locked out of the nest box.  She was still rushing in there every time I opened the pop hole.  She then spent 5 days and nights in a sin bin.  But then I was going on holiday for 2 weeks and my chicken sitter couldn't cope with the sin bin, so she went back in with her 2 friends.  Since we got back from hols a week ago she is still mega determined.  I've tried dunking her in water (up to 8 times a day), keeping her out of the nest box as much as possible, but one of the others had started laying now and so needs access to the nest box during the day.

  I am thinking I should put her back in the sin bin.  Should I do this 24 hours a day or let her back in at night with her friends but take away the nest box and leave only perches in there.  I am concerned that, if she is in the sin bin over night, she will wake up early and make a dreadful racket and annoy my neighbours.

Any advice gratefully received.

Sarah

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

I just snapped one Of mine out of her broody trance, there is lots of advice and every bird is different but I succeeded by keeping her in the broody coop alone over night... Let her out as soon as u can in the morning, mine wasn't noisy once she had settled. I have a walk in run so I left the other ladies in there until they had all finished laying (usually by about 13:00) then I let the broody one back in the run but I have then closed the pop hole so she had no access to the coop at all. I did dunk in water once for about thirty seconds... Not sure if that helped. After three days she was back to her old self... Don't let her sit in the coop at all if you can help it... Mine nested down anywhere in the coop... Let the others lay then close the door. It's tricky... Balancing breaking her broodiness without disturbing the other girls.

[themagicaltoad1]

Alternatively you could just leave her to it. Another week or so and you will probably find she comes out of it by herself, but don't expect to see any eggs from her for at least a fortnight after she stops being broody.

[Shoskyns]

Thank you both for your replies.  She went in the sin bin and, as I feared, started making a really terrible racket this morning.  She is in there now as I think one of the others is trying to lay but whenever the broody starts up the racket she comes out again.  I now have my children trying to keep the broody quiet in the sin bin while the other one lays.  This is crazy!  Oh, by the way, the chickens are the children's pets, rather than just for laying.

She has lost so much weight that I am concerned to leave her much longer.  It must be bad for their general health if they stay broody too long?

At least I should be able to spot the broodiness straight away next time and hopefully nip it in the bud. I'm a bit paranoid about them disturbing the neighbours as one of them didn't seem to like the idea of us having chickens because of noise and rats...

[Casey76]

You're right to try ans snap her out of it.  When hens are broody their food intake decreases to about 1/3 of normal, and they can lose a lot of weight and muscle tone.

Broody hens are also much more susceptible to lice as they tend not to groom so much.

Does your "sin bin" have a wire floor?  This can help to speed things up a bit.  And yes, it is Ok to leave her in there 24 hours a day if your run is predator secure.  If not, you can bring the cage into the house/garage over night and stick her back outside during the day... just remember to put a layer of newspaper under the wire bottom to catch any droppings

[Shoskyns]

Thanks again all.  The sin bin does have a wire floor - old dog carrier.  They have all been out free ranging most of the day as I've been at home so able to keep an eye on them.  May try putting the sin bin in the kitchen over night to try and prevent the noisy annoying the neighbours.

Thanks again,  I really appreciate the support and help in this forum.

[Shoskyns]

Hurrah!  3 days in the new sin bin and she has snapped out of it!  What a relief!!

[Hen 1-0 Fox]

Well done... I think it's a bit of harsh love but it works wonders, I'll certainly be doing the same next time I need to battle the hormones!