Silly Broodies, sitting on duds or nothing at all......

I have 2 bantams that I hatched in the incubator 2 years ago. They both go broody at the same time and share a nest. There's no rooster, so the 1 egg that one of the 'other' hens lays each day is a dud, and they insist on sitting on it, both of them at once.........one egg.......and it being a dud. Go figure !

I take the 1 egg away every day and shoo them out of the hen house, but they go out and cluck, cluck, cluck for a few minutes........sqwawk at all the other chickens and run at them,............. and then back to the nest they go. They act awful and are so cranky. Normally, they are sweet little gals, but not right now.
I keep trying to discourage them from sitting, but they are so persistent. Even after I remove the egg, they still go back and sit......on nothing.

It's interesting that they are not at the top of the pecking order usually. But right now, when they come out..........everybody clears the way.

P.S. They've done this since the first time they went broody. So we named them "The Broody Sisters".

that is HILARIOUS!!! You should rent those sisters out!

Yes--lists them somewhere--reliable broodies are rare and in demand--make them happy!;0)

It was kind of funny in the beginning this year when they started this.

We had a very young Japanese bantam rooster that was kept with them. I wasn't sure if he was old enough to breed yet, and never saw him attempt. But I was still hopeful that there might be a slight chance the girls' eggs might be fertile.
So in the beginning, they had 7 little eggs between them to sit on.

After about 6 days, I decided to candle them to see if anything was possibly growing. Nothing, duds.

So after dark on a Saturday evening, while they couldn't see, I removed all 7 eggs. Hoping they would get past their broody spell and back to business.

Sunday morning we woke up to the biggest bunch of sqwauking and clucking I've heard in a long time. They were obviously upset.

My kids teased me......... "Mom, it's Mothers Day, did you have to
do that TODAY, of all days ? They wanted to be mommies too ! "

Awwww, poor girls,.................. my bad.

So here it is 3 weeks later............and they're still bent about it. LOL

yep, you picked a bad day, this is all YOUR fault ^_^

This message was edited May 27, 2008 8:17 AM

^_^

Peggie,
If you want to stop her from being broody, my mother always put them under a wash tub for a few days till they quit clucking. It works, just keep an eye on them from time to time. When they quit clucking they'll go back to laying.
Audrey

I've also heard of putting them in hanging cages--I guess the movement keeps them from setting. People get pretty desperate to break them up;0)

Sheesh ! I didn't mind a little of it, but they just won't give it up.
Since I don't want them to keep this up all summer, I guess I need to do something more than I am doing.

I can see why people want to break them up. I have 3 bantams, 2 of which are broody, and the third one has stopped laying also. Probably because they won't let her come into the hen house and lay hers, so she just quits when they go broody. So that's 3 less eggs per day for us. That leaves me only one Buff Orp. hen who is still laying.
Bummer ! If I want to bake a cake, I either have to wait 3 days for my Buff Orp (Matilda) to get me enough eggs, or make the trip to town and buy them.

See me standing outside the hen house with my arms crossed, tapping my foot........waiting. "C'mon Matilda, hurry up ! You know we're under a deadline for this birthday cake...... , and gas is too expensive to drive the 10 miles to town........so hurry, will ya !! " lol

gee whiz, that's too funny!

tell Matilda we are gonna start MAILING you eggs if she doesn't get back in the groove!

That might get her attention !

Isn't it fun having chickens .

i would have to say YES!

Sigh.......... I hated to do it, but took some fairly drastic measures yesterday to help them break it up. Seems like I've done all kinds of things and nothing has worked so far. Hopefully our last resort option will stop this cycle.

I took them and put them in a cage in the bright sunshine (as opposed to the dark nesting area)

It was fairly warm in the sun, so I hosed them down with the garden hose to lower their body temperatures (hormonally warm for hatching eggs)

They were in a cage, out in the open yard, rather than around the other chickens, in the sun, wet and cooler. (oposite of good broody environments) I could tell this was a stressful time for them. They were walking up and down, trying to figure out how to go back to where the other chickens are. Rather than puffing all up and sitting on their rumps.

I felt a little guilty and mean, but they have been brooding for nearly a month now. Not eating, drinking or exercising much. It's time to get back to more healthy behaviour for them. If they had eggs, it might be ok to hatch them, but this is getting ridiculous, they just won't give up.

We'll see today if they are better. If not, another shower in the bright sunshine. Poor girls.

I just went out to check on them. They seem to be coming along.
They're still clucky, but at least they are up on their feet, pacing back & forth in the cage.
If it gets really warm again today, I'll give them another shower. They look like drowned rats, and I know they hate it, but .........

I put their cage in the middle of the chicken yard, and sprinkled treats all around the cage, so the other chickens would come close and distract them. I also sprinkled treats inside their cage.

If all this dosen't do it..................I'm going to have to order some fertile eggs and just let it be. lol. Bless their little chicken hearts.......

hmmm, wish i were getting hosed down, it i shot here today!

i really think your idea will work, you are brilliant peggy! btw, sarahsizzles has fertile eggs!

tf

After I showered them down, I never did see them 'sitting' any more.
Each time I went out, they were paceing, wanting out of the cage.

Yesterday I noticed they were less clucky. Today they hardly clucked at all. I let them loose among the other chickens and they haven't gone back into the henhouse to brood any more until time to go to roost this evening.

So....... evidently that's a technique that works for breaking them up.
It took 3 days.

Now, next question, how long from broody to laying eggs again ?
Anyone know ?

i am so glad to know that worked... i wonder how you would break a duck? they like being squirted with a hose...

hehe, you're right.................they would probably think it was great.

someone needed this info...