The Dinosaurs in my Back Garden

[bikesandbirdsbob]

Good luck , you cannot beat nature .
I have a few broody girls as long as they eat and drink and stretch every day do not worry .
Bob

[kitla]

I'm afraid I agree with Bob, I used to spend ages trying to break them but it happens so frequently I gave up & let it happen. I have 3 broodies atm, like you I chuck them off about 3 times a day. When they are hatching eggs it takes about 21 days, so expect her to be at it for a while. That little sound she makes is how they talk to their chicks, cute!

[stripeddonkey]

Thanks for feedback folks. I guess letting it work it's course is best way forward. She seems happy as pie in the nest box so as long as she gets a leg stretch and some food I'm happy.

[kitla]

oh just one other thing, make doubly sure there are no redmite in there, broodies are a sitting meal for them & they can multiply fast & do alot of harm - or worse!

[sandy]

With two broodies, one now thank goodness, I just get them out for breakfast, in the middle of the day if I am home and later on for treat time, they just need to go through it , it is a natural symptom I suppose especially with bantams

[stripeddonkey]

Well I think Hamble's broodiness is on day 20 or thereabouts. I take her out the coop to free range with the others two or three times each day. She usually lasts 15 mins then is desperate to get back in so I let her back onto the nest. She has lost weight and her comb and wattles are going from red to dark pink. Yesterday after her 15 mins out she wandered back to the coop and sat staring into space for a while rather than call her non existent chicks and pace frantically. Does this mean she is coming out of the broodiness? She is definitely down I would say. Maybe coming down from the hormonal surge of broodiness. I hope this stops soon before she fades away.

[kitla]

They do seem to snap out of it all of a sudden. My big brahma Bonny sometimes starts feather pecking afterwards, I presume it's a need for extra protein so she gets an extra helping of mealworms - seems to do the trick! The other thing I do is add poultry vitamins to their water at this time, hoping it will keep them in good condition.

[sandy]

Oh SD if she is loosing weight I think nature needs a little help. Can you fence her off from the coop for the day? Give her some fishy cat food, the prawn one is good for building girls up

[KarenE]

Check the coop, make sure there are no mites in there as they can drain a broody badly and can kill one. And pop a freezer pack underneath her, it may help to snap her out of it a bit quicker.

[stripeddonkey]

I've been pretty careful re mites and have dusted nests and hen as well as replacing floor shavings and spraying with coop insecticide (when the girls were our of course). I'll lock her out longer term on Sat since I'm at home all day - difficult during week when I'm working. We are probably 24 days into broodiness now so hopefully the end is in sight. When I get Hamble out in am and pm during the week I give her cat food followed by some corn on the cob. She eats this pretty well but obviously isn't eating much else during the day. Don't like this broodniess thing at all.

[stripeddonkey]

As of a couple of days ago I now have two Broodies - Hamble has been broody for four weeks and now little Matilda is broody. I only have two nest boxes but have three hens. Florence will have to muscle into one to lay !!! Florence is too hen and has now started crowing in the morning I assume it's because she is top of the pecking order and we have no cockerels. Chicken keeping has become puzzling and tricky.

I looked all girls out the coop but in the run for ten hours today. When I opened up the door to the coop, the broodies made a beeline for the nest boxes - bo@@@cks.

[Cheshire Chick]

I am sure this will pass for you soon ... just nature taking its course and you can't rush nature. Keep enjoying your girls whatever - this business is all a massive learning curve .. for us all.

[stripeddonkey]

I am sure this will pass for you soon ... just nature taking its course and you can't rush nature. Keep enjoying your girls whatever - this business is all a massive learning curve .. for us all.

[KarenE]

There's nothing so stubborn as a chicken, especially a determined one with raging hormones

Hope they snap out of it soon, but in the meantime enjoy the realisation that you have no control whatsoever over them

[kitla]

I've had crowing hens before, 2 girls that laid rather large eggs throughout their lives & had the occasional problem with them, so probably an ovary issue & another that had a tumour on her ovary. They lived happy normal lives, just had bouts of crowing every so often!
My blooming broodies hog all the nestboxes too, they seem to set eachother off. It might be best to find another temporary nestbox for the others, a pet travel box or something in the run, a regular gift of new eggs might just encourage them to stay on longer.