[City Chook Keeper]

Hi, would appreciate yet more advice from this invaluable site!  Being a relatively new chook keeper have only just managed to sort the food issue out with keeping them to pellets only with treats every now and then which is working very well and we now have a broody chicken!  Ethel has been broody for about a fortnight now - only wants to be in the nest box.  I have been lifting her out of the box for about ten days in the morning before i go to work and she is fine when in the garden - eating and drinking etc and seems perfectly happy but when i go to work just sits in the nest box.  before i resort to making a cage i have heard about dunking them in cold water but have read conflicting reports as to which end! is it the head or the bottom?  unfortunately i am not here all day every day to just keep her out and let the other chook in to lay when she wants to.  any answers appreciated!

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

Hi, you dunk the chicken's bottom in the cold water, not their head (but your post has really made me chuckle, sorry!  Although it's great light relief after a horribly busy day at work). 

It is best to ask these questions though - there's no such thing as a silly question as we all need to learn.  When I first heard of the cold water technique I thought it was strange to dunk a chicken bum first in cold water but the idea is it lowers the temperature of her undercarriage, thus reducing the urge to be broody.

A dog crate also helps in the same way as it discourages her from brooding down, thus cooling her down so breaks the broodiness.  It really isn't cruel and most people find it only takes a few days for the hen to "snap out of it".

[joyfull]

I wouldn't do the dunking this time of the year though. Just keep chucking her out of the nest box.

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

Bit too cold for her to be walking around with a wet bum.  Sorry I forgot to add that bit!      Thanks joyfull 

[jinty1911]

Defo not the head bit lol. But might shock them into being sensible  I dont know if dunking bums works cos when mine went broody during the heavy snow, I took them out of box and put them in the snow and they just sat there, quite happily.  Got 2 out of 3 broody now.  I just take them out (several times a day) and make sure they are eating and drinking.  Going to block off box tonight and they will no doubt nest on the floor.  Crazy ladies   

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

I must admit I've not tried the cold water, when one of our girls went broody last summer I gave in and got her some fertile eggs.  I couldn't resist having some chicklets 

Mum and dad tried the cold water treatment with one of their hens last year and it didn't seem to have that much effect to be honest... But their technique could be lacking I guess!   

I do like the dog cage approach and if any of mine go broody this year I think I will try it.

[jinty1911]

I am starting to think that as long as they are eating and drinking I will just have to let nature take it's course. Mine are a broody girls and there's not much I can do about it. Not going to put them in a broody cage at this time year anyway. But they could hatch some non-broody chicks   
Jinty     

[Foghorn-Leghorn]

I'm trying to be strong and not increase the flock any more this year... I'm up to 12 chickens though and I know I have a couple of strong contenders for broody status (Speckled Sussex and a Black Silkie - although we don't know if Poulet is a boy or a girl yet!).

Must not get any more hatching eggs
Must not get any more hatching eggs
Must not get any more hatching eggs
Must not get any more hatching eggs


Nope, it's not working, lol!

[jinty1911]

Would be nice though, wouldn't it? Little chickys? In the Spring time? Running around with proud mummy hen? Opps Sorry. Got carried away     

I MUST NOT HATCH ANY EGGS
I MUST NOT ENCOURAGE ANYONE TO HATCH EGGS 

[chickchook]

theres loads of whys and old talis wife talls of stoping a broody hen . but its all it is . they will go off broody when they like to , puting there bum in water only stresses the chickens out and can do more damage than good . .

[jinty1911]

I have been fighting it since they starting laying in September but am not going to encourage it.  They are hooked out of house as often as I can but not much you can do if 2 are laying and 1 is broody.  Dont want to put the other 2 off.  It's the other way about at the mo. 

[chickchook]

if you dont want to hatch any and its been that long her broody just stick some eggs from the shop under her they wont hatch and she will know there useless sooner or later and hop off . just a idea.

[Casey76]

Being broody is a hormonal change.  You *can* break broodyness within a few (3-4) days by putting the hen in a wire bottomed cage (like a travelling dog crate) and put it in a couple of breeze blocks.

The idea is that while the wire bottom is not so comfortable to sit on, the passage of cool air under her body will cool her underside off.  (when a hen becomes broody, as part of the hormonal change, her underside will become very warm in order to incubate the eggs).  It takes a few days, because you can't just switch hormones off like a light switch, but cooling her underside off will help to hasten the moves of hormone back to "normal" state rather than broody.

[joyfull]

here is my list on ways to break a broody 

You cant stop them going broody but there are several ways to deal with it.
1) let them have fertile eggs,
2) keep removing the eggs so she is sitting on nothing - can take weeks,
3) keep removing her from the nest box - again can take weeks,
4) put her in a cage with food and water - can take between 1 and 7 days,
5) dunk her bum in a bucket of cold water - this lowers her body temperature - not tried this method but she may need several dunkings (just make sure she dries off though).
So far I have tried methods 1 and 4 - much prefer method 1 though 


 

[joyfull]

if you take a look at this link you will see one of my broodies in a cage:-


http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=58294.0