My Buff Orpington has gone broody and I don't know what to do.
The other hens are ticked cuz she is in their favorite nest.
I didn't realize she had a few eggs hidden that she's sitting on. Should those be pitched or can they be eaten. We don't have a rooster of age.
Thanks
Broody Hen
Hey NewRot, how old is your Roo? I thought my Roo was Way too young and immature too! Well I was wrong and he is the Proud Papa of Hard Rock! He could not have been but about 3months when the eggs were fertilized!!
He's a "Splash Blue Andalusian" that is coming up on 3 months old but the ol hens peck @ him cuz he's smaller than them.
I've seen him grabbing the hens his age by the top of the head and hanging on while the squalk but he's never tried to het on one, that I 've seen.
Not able to keep roosters and have "Dudley" up for grabs to a new home but no responses yet. I wasn't expecting to have chicks so I'm not sure what to do.
Do I have to throw the eggs away???
How do I get her to stop???
Thanks Eufalula
I think if you were to just keep pulling out the eggs and have her return to an empty nest everyday,she would give up!
I'd pitch the eggs that were under her for more than a day, yes.
I break a broody hen by taking her out of the pen and letting her free range alone for a day or two (I have a fenced yard). She will usually roost in a tree. Might sound extreme, but it works for me, and that way the hen's not starving herself sitting on eggs that will never hatch.
Thanks Eufaula and Zeppy. I'll get her out into my yard. (They have their own).
Boy, she can peck hard. One of my Light Brahma's was fed up with her taking the favorite nest so she was somehow able to squeeze into the box with Ms Broody. It was so cute but she was not amused.
Thanks for the advice.
I have a silkie and she is SOOO broody sometimes! She broods on a plastic easter egg we threw out there as a joke! Sometimes she'll even brood on nothing!I make her get up and eat at least once a day when I check on them, but otherwise I let her do what makes her happy. She always gets over it eventually. I take her eggs out every day. They do get over it. If it makes her happy, why not?
They don't always get over it. A hen who's broody isn't eating or drinking much, and she'll take a long time to lay again, during which time she's more at risk of being eggbound or having other egg-making problems. Her immunity's low and she's more vulnerable to being picked on by the others. For folks keeping chickens for the eggs, it doesn't always pay off. For pets, no big deal.
Yea! After a couple days of taking her out to eat/drink, she finally quit being broody. She was back to her old self shortly after.
Thanks all !
Oh, good! One of my Buff Orps tries to go broody every few months.
Thats what my Mama Barred Rock does! She has Two sets of Babies now,8weeks, apart. The last are just a couple of weeks old. Im watching her now to see if she goes broody again in about 3 weeks. If she does Im going to let her,just to see how many babies this ole girl can handle!
I have noticed that he r first baby, Hard Rock , is still helping her with the new ones, but still gets on top of mama to sleep at night! Sooo funny! Big Sis is a Mama's baby for sure!
My silkie is broody again. I have to just throw my hands up in the air and let her. I have a plastic easter egg in there that my husband and I put in as a joke, and she wants to hatch it soooooooo badly! ( No luck yet! I'll let you know if she hatches tiny plastic chicks) She gets broody every few months. At least she isn't terrorizing the other chickens anymore :) She loves to be bossy to the younger chickens!
I heard from someone that had a broody turkey that was so persistent, she sat on a beer can. Now, that just cracks me up !