Level of Broodiness = Level 9

[Chickybok]

Hi guys.... one of my beautiful ladies is broody. After reading up about this A LOT, I've decided to buy a crate for her and pop her in that. I didn't like the bum in cold water idea and I'm pretty sure she wouldn't either.

So I have a quick question - at night time when she would normally go up to roost, do I leave her in the crate, and put the crate in the coop, so she's still sleeping with her friends? I don't like the idea of her sleeping alone......

Thanks

 

[JackE]

Leave her in the crate. Otherwise, she will just go right back on the nest, the first chance she gets. I have my BroodyBuster hanging up right in the coop. It's an old wire box trap. Feed and water are in there with the hen.

 

[aart]

Yep, I leave mine in the crate in the coop.

Water nipple bottle installed after pic was taken:

 

[Chickybok]

Ok thanks for confirming. Feels kinda wrong putting her in a cage when we all strive to give them a wonderful life out of cages! But I understand it has to be done. In their coop there are 3 nesting boxes between 4 of them. Of course they all use the same one! And so that is the one she won't budge out of!!

 

[aart]

Ok thanks for confirming. Feels kinda wrong putting her in a cage when we all strive to give them a wonderful life out of cages! But I understand it has to be done. In their coop there are 3 nesting boxes between 4 of them. Of course they all use the same one! And so that is the one she won't budge out of!!

She'll fuss and squawk... but she'll get over it.
If you get her in there quickly it only takes a few days to 'break' them.

My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.

 

[Chickybok]

Haha that's exactly what my little Lossey has been doing! She comes down for half an hour, runs around like a prisoner who has just escaped from Alcatraz, grabs some food/water and then goes back up! She also did have a peck at one of the others on her run around, which she never does. She's such a placid little chook, bless.

Thanks for the the reassurance Hubby bought the crate today so she'll be going in there soon. And it's nearly the weekend here so I'll be able to keep an eye on her as well.

My first broody hen learning curve!!