Independence Homestead

This week we had the adventure of dealing with a broody hen! I realized a hen was broody when I went to close up the chicken coop for the night, and one of the Buff Orpington hens was in a nesting box. The Buffs are really good about sleeping on roosts, so I knew she must be broody.  We would love to have hens hatch and raise chicks, but not right now.  We’re going into fall and winter, which is a little cold for chicks.  Additionally, the hens have just started being “serviced” by a new rooster in the last week, so I don’t know how many of the eggs are fertilized.

The fayoumi rooster on the left has been quite interested in the hens…

For these reasons, we decided to break the hen’s broodiness.  We followed the instructions on this webpage because we have plenty of rabbit cages! I picked the hen out of the nesting box.  I wore gloves because man did she look angry!  Plus she was making noises you’d expect to hear from a dinosaur on Jurassic Park, not from a soft, feathery hen.  I was surprised she didn’t peck me.

Don’t mess with me, I’m sitting on eggs!

I put the hen in a rabbit cage with food and water. For those unfamiliar with breaking hens of broodiness, there are many strategies but they all entail cooling off the hen’s bottom so she realizes she’s not nesting on eggs. When the hen is up in the air in a rabbit cage, with no nest, she’ll cool off.  Or at least that’s what we’re hoping! Initially she still acted broody, puffing up really large when I walk up, and making funny noises.

Broody hen in rabbit cage

I left the hen in the cage for two days and one night, and then released her.  I found her in a nesting box shortly after her release, so it was back in the cage with her!  After another couple of days in the cage, her broodiness was gone.

I want to emphasize this is the ONLY time we’ve ever put a hen in a cage like this. Our research showed this was the most effective way to get rid of the broodiness with the resources we had on hand. Normally the chickens range over about an acre every day. One a few occasions where a chicken has been hurt or seemed in need of special attention, we have separated that chicken into a separate pen where it has access to grass, a nesting box, and its own food and water.