[littlewitch]

Afraid its me again on about our solitary daft chook - its been a week since she went off lay and turned broody.  Despite a) getting her bum dunked several times daily b) locking her out (and the others unfortunately) of the coop (but only once rest have laid) c) keeping her in the old cat basket while they lay,  she is still grumpy & presumably broody!

Anybody got ANY idea how long this could last ( she's only just about 25/26 weeks old and hasn't been in lay for long!)

OH is threatening to have her roasted soon, with the last of the spuds from the garden!!
(But the way the slugs & snails have eaten everything this year - he has been heard to say he might turn it over to chooks ( means getting more - hee hee!) they're proving more productive!! Yay!!) Just dawned on me why - he's just after some Orpingtons - his fav birds (which we don't have as yet!!)       :happy:

[oddpaws]

Do you have a large cage of some sort. If you put her in that for 2 days she will find it uncomfortable to sit properly and will go off the brood.....at least so i was told by my neighbours.

As for how long it lasts I think it is different for each bird

[littlewitch]

Well, Oh has had enough after all his efforts over the past week so - 'Cell Block H' is now under construction.  Hopefully this 'isolation ward' (which will also double as bad weather shelter) will help so that we can isolate her for about 4/5 days ( as instructions in our copy of Keeping Poultry & Rabbits on Scraps' by Claude Goodchild, Alan Thompson - this was originally printed 1941 but reprinted 2008 following increase in Chook keeping in back gardens) Unfortunately its doesn't tell us how long she's likely to be broody for tho, just that it could take some time!! Hmm!!!   

[cathangirl]

I had one broody for seven weeks and now, after several weeks of laying, has gone broody again!!

[joyfull]

So you are going to do plan 4 then - the cage 
worked for one of mine after just one day in solitary confinement, worked after a few days with Grannie annie's but then about a week later her hen went broody again 
You could be in for a long wait with yours as she seems very determined to hatch eggs.

[littlewitch]

Oh well - she's going to be very disappointed    - not going to be able to satisfy her natural instinct    - just hoping that a spell in isolation followed by some poultry spice on her food will help. 

[kitkat]

I will be putting my Frizzle in the 'sin bin' , shes broody again, whilst she still has a chick, we've been here before with this hen, if she's laid me half a dozen eggs this year thats it

[eveshamchelle]

This solitary confinement idea - what do you do at night please?

We sectioned off a bit of our enclosure, we call it the naughty corner, so when one goes broody they get put in there with water and some grain and left to 'reflect on their actions' a la Suppernanny.  The others then get free run of the rest of the enclosure and food and coop etc.  Everyone can still see each other, so there's no risk of bullying afterwards.

Up till now, when the others have laid, we let the broody out of the corner.  Which means, most she's going to be in there a day is 6 hours.

But, being semi-nice-nasty seems to drag the broodiness out a bit, one was almost four weeks between eggs.   

So, should we put broody in the corner, in the morning and leave for the whole day until bedtime or do we leave her out overnight?  I did worry she would get too cold ..... but she does seem to love snuggling down and fluffing herself up for 10 hours with the others ...... but then she doesn't want to leave in the morning and growls and pecks and is very naughty indeed.

Help!

[kitkat]

Hi, ideally she needs to be in a crate or something similar that you can leave her in and bring it indoors at night so shes safe. If she just has food and water it could take a couple of days to break her[but not always]. After being broody they take a couple of weeks to get back into the swing of laying

[Beano]

Buttercup has been broody for approx. 6 weeks after being out of broodiness for 3 short weeks. This is the third time this year for her and I have relented and allowed her to do her own thing. I'm happy for the silly girl to be broody as long as she's eating and drinking enough, which seems to be the case.
Good luck with yours.

[Aunt Sally]

Just dawned on me why - he's just after some Orpingtons - his fav birds

Best tell him that orpingtons go broody at the drop of a hat 

[barbarella]

Oh dear, we have the same problem with one of our chooks, a cuckoo maran, and I have just been looking at this thread for advice - it seems to be a common problem.

We used to have three Rhodie crosses who never went broody and we have only had our new three about a month (the others are a Light Sussex and a Black Rock).  We don't know how old they were, presumably point of lay, but one laid an egg in the carrying box on the way home .  They have each been laying more or less one a day, but now the little Maran has gone broody.  I have taken her out of the nest box several times a day and let them roam in the garden to make life more interesting for her but after a while she just goes back again.  Sometimes she just  makes a scrape underneath the coop (on wheels) and goes into a trance. 

I think I will have to keep her in the run extension separate from the others for most of the day but keeping her out of the coop at night isn't really an option. 

Does anyone know if Marans are prone to going broody?  I don't want to replace her or add to the flock as we had awful problems with pecking order last time and had to get rid of the originals who had stopped laying anyway. 

[joyfull]

My cuckoo maran Brenda Lee has gone broody 4 times this year (the first time I let her sit on some fertile eggs - those chicks are nearly 21 weeks old now). I find the best thing with mine is to put her in a cage during the day with layers and water. She hates having this done to her as they normally free range and she can see the others out and about. Then at night I put her back in with the others naking sure she has no access to a nest box. If in the morning she reverts back to the broody behaviour then I just repeat this process. The most I have to do this is 3 days. Unfortunately she still isn't laying at the moment as she is moulting 

[barbarella]

at night I put her back in with the others naking sure she has no access to a nest box.

That might be a bit of a problem as all three of them like to sleep in the nest box .  It is quite funny to see them, as our last three used to sit really close to coop door and I had to gently push the front one in so that I could close the door.  It seems odd to see the new ones squatting on the straw as I thought chickens always used roosting bars - and they make an awful mess so I have to change the straw daily whereas there are slide out trays lined with paper under the roosting bars - much more efficient -  but the girls will have their own way. 

We haven't got a small cage so I'll have to shut the coop after the others have laid and keep moving her around if she flops around in a scrape.  She does go and eat and drink if I put her near the feeders but she does feel quite light when I pick her up.  Strange thing is she wouldn't let me pick her up before, but now she cuddles in and seems to love it