Question Broody pen

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Robbie
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Broody pen

Post by Robbie » Tue Jul 26, 2016 7:48 am

I have a broody explosion. I need to build a pen. The broodies are hogging the nests and my futile attempts to un- broody them have been a failure. I do have one small cage, but now I have five broodies so I anticipate I'll need a biggish pen to hold all these broodies at once.
(I really, really need to breed this behaviour out, but I will probably have a lot of broodies next year in the Buckeye/Cornish crosses. I have some very promising chicks, of course those will be the broody ones :-/ but we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping the cross to the Barred Holland in 2018 will produce non- broody chicks.)

Out of desperation I did try the bath, dunking them in water, but that did not seem to work and the hens actually seemed to appreciate the cool dip. The hens were busy preening until they dried and then went right back to being broody. I'm now trying to block them out of the nests once the other hens have laid their eggs, and put them on the roosts at night when they can't see and have to stay there. Still all broody.

What is the point of the broody pen, does it have to be spartan and uncomfortable (wire floor, no bedding, no roost, just food and water? Or will just not allowing them to nest be adequate? I was thinking they could be put in an outdoor pen during the day to keep them off the nests, and the wire bottomed pen at night? Or better to keep them in the wire bottomed pen 24/7 until they snap out of it?
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WLLady
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Broody pen

Post by WLLady » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:40 am

Good luck....i have tried to break broodies and just ended up with a ticked off, wet, cold and pissy hen.....then let her sit and hatch and was done with it. LOL
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Farrier1987
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Broody pen

Post by Farrier1987 » Tue Jul 26, 2016 8:45 am

My experiences, with limited success. Do the cold water bath in the eve. Put them in wire cage with no bedding over night, a perch of some kind is good. No food or water over night. water in the morning. Let them out in the afternoon after all the others have laid. If they go back to the nest to brood, do it again that evening. I have had reasonable success with this. Might need to be repeated two or three or four days in a row.

I have also had too many broodies, let them set on eggs, and when hatched have sold hen and chicks on kijiji. Have sold two for $50 ea this summer. I hate to part with my friends, but it helps buy feed, and someone that buys a hen and chicks for 50 is going to treat them right. If I know I am going to do this, I set a mix of eggs, not special eggs, just a good mix. Sold to a young couple with kids and a grampa and gramma that wanted chickens, chicks for the grandkids.

Also bathing them (I use the rain barrel) hold one wing in each hand and swish them around so the water gets to the skin, hold them so just their head and neck are out of the water while you swish.
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Ontario Chick
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Broody pen

Post by Ontario Chick » Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:27 am

I seem to have a good success with a large dog kennel in the hallway, food and water as usual and as much light as possible, the whole idea is to annoy the heck out of her, without having any lovely dark corners to "brood" in so to speak.
This year it has had an awful lots of traffic, I would say that more hens have gone broody this year then in last five years combined.
I listen for the clucking to stop before she is let out again, it usually takes about 4-5 days for the Wyandottes and Ameraucanas LF
Broody in segregation.jpg
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thegawd
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Broody pen

Post by thegawd » Tue Jul 26, 2016 10:25 am

I also had a broody explosion, I think iv had 15 birds go and maybe 3 be successful. it sure is hurting the egg dept. well 2 weeks ago or so I had enough! I checked the eggs in the nests if they were promisings I left them but most wernt. I took 9 hens and put them all in a quail hutch which is really a rabbit hutch 2×8' split into 2 pens. I put them in, in the morning with no food or water, I gave them water in the late afternoon and then food the following morning. I left them for another 30 hours or so. I put them back in the coop at night and on the roost and quitley threatened them. well the next morning success, I broke all 9 in about 56 hours.

good luck!
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Al

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Robbie
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Broody pen

Post by Robbie » Tue Jul 26, 2016 5:52 pm

Great, thanks everyone for your ideas! I'm going to try a combination of all those things. Enough already with the broodyness! Of course next year when i want broodies, they wont be.......
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windwalkingwolf
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Broody pen

Post by windwalkingwolf » Tue Jul 26, 2016 6:26 pm

I'm having the same problem. I have 11 hens either broody or with chicks at heel, and 3 of those are on round 2. Just yesterday I tossed off 3 hens trying to co-sit a single egg. One of the hens was a banty completely underneath a standard hen! I also have a turkey that won't quit and I won't even mention the muscovies...think I have 50 ducklings out there between 4 hens. I think I'm going to let everyone do their thing, I figure they must know something I don't lol, and hopefully I start getting eggs again with return of cooler weather :/
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redninja
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Broody pen

Post by redninja » Tue Jul 26, 2016 9:31 pm

WWW I agree with letting them do what they're doing. Never so many broody hens before. I have 11 as well. Even my 4 year old Isbar hen is diligently sitting for the first time. Isbars aren't supposed to brood. They must know something we don't.
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Robbie
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Broody pen

Post by Robbie » Wed Jul 27, 2016 3:50 pm

redninja wrote:QR_BBPOST WWW I agree with letting them do what they're doing. Never so many broody hens before. I have 11 as well. Even my 4 year old Isbar hen is diligently sitting for the first time. Isbars aren't supposed to brood. They must know something we don't.
Redninja! You are scaring me! :hide:
Ross maybe it is time to break out the tinfoil hats.
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thegawd
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Broody pen

Post by thegawd » Wed Jul 27, 2016 4:34 pm

the one hen I let keep her eggs has half a dozen chicks running around today, theres a blue one! I hope it makes it! shes the used to be black leghorn that morphed into white, shes a good and very successful broody!

Good luck Robbie!
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Al

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