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Have you noticed that one of your chickens has gone broody? Here is how you can deal with a broody hen in your flock.
Chickens have a natural instinct to sit on their eggs and raise chicks. First time chicken keepers may be surprised at a hens weird behavior during her broodiness.
If you have a flock of chickens you are going to encounter a broody hen sooner or later.
There are multiple ways you can deal with a broody hen in your flock depending on your situation. First we need to talk about broodiness.
What Is A Broody Hen
A broody hen is a chicken that has decided to hatch eggs by sitting on them. Most production chickens are bred to not be broody while heritage breed chickens (my favorite type of chickens) are prone to be broody.
You could say that heritage breed chickens still have their motherly instincts. While it is more common in heritage breed chickens any chicken can become broody.
Broody hens will start by going to the nest box (or wherever they lay their eggs) and sitting on the eggs all day. Here are some common signs that your hen is broody.
- Not leaving the nest
- Pulling feathers off her breast
- Making growling sounds when you approach
- Pecking at your hands when collecting eggs
- Leaving the nest and making a larger pile of poo than normal (I know gross!)
- Puffing her feathers out
- Egg laying has stopped
When your hen goes broody it should be obvious. My hens will puff their feathers out, stop laying eggs, not leave the nest but once or twice a day, and pluck all their breast feathers off.
All these behaviors create a very warm environment to incubate eggs (hence plucking breast feathers to expose warm skin).
How To Deal With A Broody Hen
A broody hen is great if you want more chicks, but if you want your hen to keep laying eggs she is going to stop. Here are some different ways you can deal with a broody hen in your flock.
Break A Broody Hen
While having a broody hen can be great if you are wanting to hatch or raise chicks when you don’t want more chickens it can be an issue. One way to make a hen get off the nest is to break her.
To break a broody hen here are the steps I follow.
- Collect Eggs: When you have a broody hen, collect eggs from the nests that way she doesn’t have any eggs to sit on. Also remove any fake eggs because she could believe that they will hatch.
- Move Her: Every time you go out to the chicken coop pick the broody hen up and set her outside the nest box. She will be mad, but this causes her to get up and walk around.
- Freeze Her Out: You can even put ice cubes or a frozen water bottle in the nest to keep her out.
- Clean Her Nest Out: After she makes her nest to brood in, you can clean the nesting box out and this might cause her to stop.
It may take some time to break her broody cycle, but I don’t mind waiting. I have seen other people separate the chicken from the flock and force them to stand in a cage all day, but I don’t want to do this.
A hen has a natural broody cycle so I just follow these techniques and with time she will get off the nest.
Fertile Eggs
If you have a rooster and you want more chicks a broody hen is something you want! A broody hen will sit on the eggs and take care of the chicks till they are old enough to fend for themselves.
If you don’t have your own rooster you can buy fertilized eggs online for your hen. When you get these eggs simply tuck them under the hen and she will take care of them.
If you are going to let her hatch chicks make sure to mark the eggs you want her to hatch. If she stays in the flock, other hens may lay eggs in her nest box and they will not all be at the same stage of development.
Letting your hen raise her own chicks is a great way to raise more chickens with little effort from you. You can learn more about letting your hen hatch eggs here.
Buy Chicks
You can also trick your broody hen into thinking she has hatched her own chicks. This is a great option if you want more chickens but don’t have fertile eggs.
Start by letting the hen set on unfertile or fake eggs for a week or two. If she continues to sit on the eggs and acts broody you are on the right track.
One night, after the sun has set, go out to the coop and remove the eggs while placing day old chicks under the hen. When she wakes up she will think her eggs hatched.
In most cases the hen will take care of the chicks as her own. I have seen chicken keepers have great success with this method.
Don’t Do Anything
Another option is to simply do nothing. Chickens will go through a broody cycle and after some time they will “snap” out of it on their own.
If your hen is healthy and just acting broody, within a month or two she should stop her broodiness. When my hens get broody I try to break them gently and after a few weeks they get off the nest.
Dangers Of A Broody Hen
In extreme cases a hen may become so determined to hatch eggs that she deprives herself of food and water because she stays on the nest. In these cases a hen can become unhealthy and even die.
While my hens have never been this determined I have heard of cases where hens become dehydrated and malnourished while being broody.
If your coop is very warm this can make the situation worse for the hen. I really think prevention is key when you notice a broody hen.
If you are trying to break a broody hen, continue to watch her for signs of lethargy, dehydration, and malnourishment. If you notice any of these signs take her off the nest and offer her cool electrolyte water and food while moving her to a cool area.
Final Say On Broody Hens
When you want more chickens have a broody hen can make raising new chicks a breeze. If you aren’t interested in raising more chickens then try to gently break your hen of her broodiness, and remember to watch her for any unhealthy behaviors.
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