Help Please...My Buff has gone Broody...

[analyticalblonde]

Hi All,

I have looked at past posts to try and figure out what to do...I'm a newbie in my first year of raising girls...

Anyway, I am having a problem with one of my Buffs...she doesn't get out of the box at all! Not to eat, not to drink, not to dustbathe! She's been this way since last week Friday and tonight my husband & I are going to take her out and relocate her in our basement.

My question is I have seen on BYCs brood buster dog crates but does the dog crate have to be the size shown in all the pictures, i.e. small-medium sized crates?

I have a dog crate that I used when raising my 10 chicks/pullets but it is a crate that holds a very large dog. I don't have any other cage besides this one and I am unable to get out tonight because it is pretty much blizzard conditions right now here where I live and the temps are expected to drop to the single digits soon; temps have dropped from 24 to 19 within the last hour.

Is an extra-large crate OK? Please say YES....

 

[slordaz]

the thing is put it up on a couple blocks to get air circulating to cool the hormones, a large dog crate should be plenty big

 

[analyticalblonde]

the thing is put it up on a couple blocks to get air circulating to cool the hormones, a large dog crate should be plenty big

Thank you so much...it's pretty much a whiteout outside and it's the only crate I have. I've put down large, black trash bags down with newspaper on top to catch the poop. I've also brought down 2"x4" boards to stack to put the crate on top of. I've also found a rod I can use as a roost bar and have the food and water ready for the next several days. The basement is at about 55 degrees and I can't make it colder...it is so cold outside I can't understand why she's gone broody...especially since the cold is supposed to suppress her hormones to kick in to become broody...

 

[slordaz]

Thank you so much...it's pretty much a whiteout outside and it's the only crate I have. I've put down large, black trash bags down with newspaper on top to catch the poop. I've also brought down 2"x4" boards to stack to put the crate on top of. I've also found a rod I can use as a roost bar and have the food and water ready for the next several days. The basement is at about 55 degrees and I can't make it colder...it is so cold outside I can't understand why she's gone broody...especially since the cold is supposed to suppress her hormones to kick in to become broody...

some do, just a fact chickens will be chickens lol

 

[rosemarythyme]

Size of "cage" doesn't matter, I've used a dog pen 4'x4' sitting on the ground and it worked fine. Mainly you want to keep them from getting back to the nest.

 

[aart]

Large crate can work, as long as there's smaller mesh on bottom for good footing and it's raised up off the floor/ground.

Smaller crates work better because they will fit into most coops,
and it's best to leave them 'with' the flock to avoid re-integration issues.

it is so cold outside I can't understand why she's gone broody...especially since the cold is supposed to suppress her hormones to kick in to become broody...

It's actually the length of day that 'should' suppress hormone production....
..but I've had several go broody in the middle of winter, one I let hatch in February(never again).

 

[CCUK]

I use a large cage. It is in my garage though not in the run. I take the plastic tray out and it's mesh on the floor and I fitted a perch for them to sit on.

Orpingtons are well known for going broody frequently. I have two and I also have two Brahmas that seem to treat the cage like a second home! It can get a bit tedious at times and I've had three cages all lined up full of broodies
Unless you want to hatch eggs it is better to break them quickly for quite a few reasons, mainly because they lose so much condition whilst sitting. A couple of days in there and normally that's it, job done!

 

[analyticalblonde]

Hi All,

Well after some McGyvering...I got my huge dog crate turned into a Broody Buster!

I partitioned off half of the crate; it has one for people how raise puppies and is removed when they are bigger. I found an extension bar that we have used for washing outside windows that are too high to reach normally and I stuck it through the cage so she can have a roost bar, put in her food and water that I raised up on a metal bucket, raised the whole crate off the ground about 6 inches, put hardware cloth on the bottom of the crate and up the front and back edges because there are large opening there, laid down big, black trash bags with newspaper covering them under the crate then finally, took my girl out of the nest she's been staying in for the last 5 days and gave her her new apartment! God, after all this work I hope she breaks sooner rather than later!!!

 

[aart]

Lose the washer handle and just toss a piece of 2x4 on the floor as a 'roost' to give her feet a break.

You didn't really need to make the crate smaller with the divider.
(wish I still had the dividers for my large crates)

 

[analyticalblonde]

Lose the washer handle and just toss a piece of 2x4 on the floor as a 'roost' to give her feet a break.

You didn't really need to make the crate smaller with the divider.
(wish I still had the dividers for my large crates)

@aart Sounds great...will do that right now!