Thank you for your article. It's a great idea putting 4x4 under the cage.
Here are the waterer and feeder details(I've added them to the broody article too):
Thank you. It'll be very helpful to manage my chickens in isolation.
I let her roam in the garage every evening when I change the puppy pads out for clean ones. Other than that, no. She needs to be out of her comfort zone to help break her broody cycle.
I hang the feeder & water with these... They work well for the broody breaker.
Don't they have to lay their eggs somewhere during this time?
A broody hen has already laid her clutch, they don't continue to lay while they are brooding. That's why production breeds select against broodiness, because if a hen goes broody she will not be producing eggs.
Also, if the hen did need to lay an egg, she can just lay it on the floor of whatever cage she is in. She won't be happy about it, but it will not cause her any physical problems.
I have sometimes broken broody hens by shutting them in a small pen with a nest-- if she doesn't like the nest, she will pace back and forth trying to get back to the nest she does want. After a few days, she is no longer broody.
