One day , my husband Will told me that he thought he ’d seen a rotted egg in the chicken running , but did n’t know how long it had been there . It was smutty , and bountiful , but expect like one of the crybaby had broken it a while ago .
When I went outdoors to inspect and clean it up , I find that it was , in fact , a elephantine inglorious chicken dropping .
Smelly . Hard . And looking like our chicken had been constipated for days .
I open up the cage to see if I could find any more waste bomb in there ( because as a chicken - steward , scrutinise droppings happens to be part of the Book of Job — lucky us ! ) , and sitting inside her egg box wasIman , our Golden - Laced Cochin .
Her body was sprawled across the full nest , nearly flattened , and she looked at me with defiance .
It had been a few hours since Will had seen her sitting in the nest . She had n’t place an egg all hebdomad , and compound with all the othertelltale planetary house of a reflective hen , it seemed our gal had just gone broody again .
We were n’t dream up chicks so we had to nip this behavior in the bud before she unintentionally harmed herself .
After many years of elevate chicken , I ’ve find that some methods work better than others — and this is what I now do every time one of them twist meditative . If you take a secure and humane result , start with the first method acting and extend going down the list until you successfully break your broody biddy .
Method #1: Remove your broody hen from the nest. Repeatedly.
The promiscuous one to try first is to mildly pry your chicken from her nest and put her out of doors with the rest of her flock .
She ’ll ruffle her feathers , spread her wings , keep her eubstance depressed , grumble at you , even peck at you — anything to protect her nest from the perceived scourge against her real or imaginary eggs .
If there are eggs in the nest , collect them right away so she ca n’t continue sit on them . endeavor to collect every eggs as soon as it ’s position to remove any temptation for the brood hen to sit .
I like to express my poulet around for 10 or 15 minute while I make my rounds in the garden to “ air her out , ” so to speak . I throw away out some treat , set her down on the earth , and encourage her to scratch and hen-peck in the pace .
I add a few logs , branches , or upside - down buckets as interesting fresh billet to perch , put a head of cabbage out for entertainment , or just coldcock a bowl of kitchen scraps for the mountain to throw out about . ( I keep a big bowl in the kitchen as my countertop compost collector , and empty it every day in the chicken run . )
A dissatisfied chicken may skip back into the testicle box once you put her down , so if she does , simply take away her from the nest and dribble her around again . You require to trouble her as much as potential with “ shiny new object , ” so to speak .
Method #2: Give your broody hen a distraction.
speak of shiny new objects , I ’ve found that even the most obstinate broodies ( like my Wyandotte this summertime , who really force her fashion into the coop when we tried to deflect it ) will get off the nest if there are new flock members around .
I recently started tointegrate our new chickenswith the exist flock and as soon as the frier were rent out of their impermanent coop , my brood hen Wyandotte hopped off her nest to see what the fuss was about . She then spent the rest of the sidereal day ( and following day ) endeavor to demonstrate pecking monastic order .
So , if you happen to be usher in new chickens , too soon to mid summertime ( when most chickens go broody ) is an ideal clip to do it .
Method #3: Give your broody hen a (gentle!) cold water bath.
If your broody lady is still determined to nest , try out my next trick : the cold water bathtub .
satiate a sink or wash bathing tub with a few inch of cold water and mildly turn down the wimp into the bath . ( Please use mutual sense if you inhabit someplace with freeze cold tap water , like I do in Central Oregon , and turn the faucet torefreshingly coolwater instead . )
You only demand enough water to shroud her breast when she sits . ( Poor matter , she ’s totally mere there ! )
The theory here is that you ’re helping cool down down her chest and her vent-hole , thereby glower her pensive trunk temperature .
Just as I do when Igive a chicken health club bathroom , I place a towel over my chicken ’s head to keep her composure and leave her in the cold ( or cool ) water for a few bit .
During this time , I ’ll clean her volcano and pull off any dry out shit stuck to her feathers ; there ’s normally quite a flake of it , as she ’s not pooping regularly . Then she ’s apace towel off butnotblow - dry , as I want her to walk around the yard , occupying herself with preening and air travel drying her feathering .
Please only give your chicken a cold water bathing tub when it ’s tender and sunny outside !
Method #4: Lock your broody hen out of the coop.
For good measure after doing methods # 1 or # 2 above , I also lock my broody out of the hencoop ; I do this when I know my other chickens have already lay an egg for the day .
Miss Broody will usually step outside the threshold , squall , demanding to be let back in to nest . Or , she ’ll recover herself a well-to-do improvised nest on the green goddess , in the mulch , or in a shallow pit of dirt , and seat there for the rest of the day , ignore her flockmates .
Whenever potential , I ’ll tempt her with treats from the garden so she has to get up and move about .
Before sundown , I unlock the coop so the flock can tuck themselves in for the Nox . The ruminative biddy may make a beeline for the egg box . If this hap , transfer her onto the roost . By that time , it ’ll commonly be dark enough that she wo n’t be able to make her mode back to the boxwood .
The next morning , you might find her wandering around with her flock … or you might find her nesting again . Repeat the cold weewee bath , interlock her out of the coop , and manually place her on the roost again that dark .
If your chicken hightail it out to greet you in the morning and blend about her daily scrape and pecking , she might be back to her normal self . But keep an oculus on her throughout the 24-hour interval , as I actually did find my chicken back in the egg box that good afternoon .
Method #5: Chicken jail.
Do you know what happens to a naughty chicken that quell broody ?
Yup . Chicken jail .
Or as I like to call it , Casa de Gallinas ( the farm version ofcasa de perros , which I ’m sure every married person has constitute himself in at some dot ) .
A chicken jail can be a wire dog doghouse , a cony hut , or an wrap pen ( which some flock owners keep as “ infirmary playpen ” for quarantining ill hens or isolation penitentiary for introducing young flock member ) .
In my case , I used a average - sized dog kennel . It number with a separate wire control panel that could be attached indoors to split up the space for puppy training . It also had a moldable mat underfoot , which I removed .
The goal of Gallus gallus gaol is to make your setting hen as world-weary and uncomfortable as possible — no nest areas , no lovesome dark cozy quoin to hide in .
Ideally , the doghouse should be elevated on wooden beams , clinker block , modest crates , or anything that ’s dependable and stable and will provide passel of line rate of flow under and around the poulet as she sits .
In place of the plastic flatness , I laid down the wire panel , which had a modest power grid and declare oneself a little more foot grip . You want your chicken to be uncomfortable , but you do n’t want her to ache herself . A sheet of hardware cloth also works well for flooring .
put your chicken inside the kennel with heap of food and water supply , and leave her in there all day and all nighttime . She does not roost with the rest of the heap , nor does she get her own roost .
I put the kennel inside our enclosed running , as it gets good mottled sparkle and a gentle cool breeze throughout the daytime ( palliate her desire to nestle ) . It offers protection from piranha but still find social , as my other chickens like to hang around it .
In the morning , lease your broody out and observe her behavior . If she runs instantly to the egg boxful , back into Gallus gallus jail she goes . If she start scratching the ground and interacting with the other chickens , success !
Do keep an eye on her and make certain she does n’t retreat to her nest again . It took my chicken two - and - a - half day of chicken jail before I was able to break her broodiness . ( I ’ve understand that some particularly refractory chickens may expend up to six days in labor before they ’re back to their normal selves . )
When I let my chicken out on that third sunrise , she happily confine out of the kennel and start dust bathing in the mulch . She feed out of my script again and ran after every mealworm I threw out .
She also started following her peck baby around , which was when I know she was “ cured”—the flock ’s super social , so it was a moderation to see them scratching and flapping around together .
Since it takes some time for their hormone levels to get back in balance , ex - broodies may not lie for a twosome of week after they ’ve been broken . Just verify they continue to eat , booze , and socialize , andwatch for that first eggto pop out !
This Emily Post updated from an clause that originally appeared on June 12 , 2014 .
