Comments for Is My Chicken Broody?

Sharon, 25 June 2013

I have 7 hens of which 2 Orpington's who have been broody for the last 3 weeks now and it's beyond a joke! At first when I tried to take the eggs from them they became defensive, growled and pecked. But i was determined to get MY eggs and armed with thick gardening gloves i went into battle. Now they seem to accept every evening I am going to turf them off and take the eggs. They're not happy about this but I give them a nice treat of grapes or other tit bits by way of apology.

Catherine, 29 April 2013

14 yr old lad, I will try your tip tonight! Will post not if it works for me, hope so coz maybe she will lay again as well. She is only a year old and has been laying for about 2 months then gone brody on me lol.

An Omleteer, 4 April 2013

I am experiencing my first broody chicken. Strangely she is a speckled too! I have been worried that she isn't eating enough as she doesn't even get off the nest some mornings but two or three times a day, once the others have laid,I take her off the nest and shut the coop door for half an hour so she can eat and drink. She seems to think its worth coming out for corn and mealworms. I have invested in some rubber eggs so that she can indulge herself once I have taken the real ones. So far so good. It's good to hear from others on this site that it should be over soon. Thanks :0)

Jan, 6 February 2013

My buff orpington chicken is broody and sitting on the eggs but also going or for a wander,, she is making all the growling noises but I don't know what happens when she keeps getting off and the eggs cool down. I would love to have some chicks. Should I get a rabbit cage and put her in there for a while?? any advise would be grateful

Debbi, 29 January 2013

These comments have been very helpful. I have a speckled hen and she has been broody for nearly 3 wks now (so hopefully its over soon). I have been removing the eggs from under her and taking her out of the nesting box a couple of times a day but has a 5 min peck about, feed etc and then straight back on the box. This is the 2nd time she has gone broody in the 6 months i have had the hens, and its only the speckled hen (origionally named 'Speckles').

Tanya, 25 September 2012

Our nursery suggested taking some fertilised eggs home for our broody hen to look after. This way we might get some new hens (hopefully not roosters!) and don't have to worry about incubators etc. The nuresry said they will buy any roosters back for a small fee...

An Omleteer, 19 June 2012

My Buff Orpington chicken had just started to lay every day and then suddenly went broody - to say she was moody would be an understatement, she was determined to maim anyone brave enough to go near her! We lifted her out of the nest area every morning and blocked her access to it until nightfall but this had absolutely no effect. We have now tried the dog cage method and had great results, she is no longer broody (after just one night), back to her old self and back to rummaging around in the garden with her friends!

Helen, 24 September 2011

Hi My broody hen is a speckled hen too. She is determined to sit so i lift her off morning and afternoon and take any eggs. The other 3 are still laying, beside her i think as she looks after all their eggs. She races about for ten minutes has a snack, drink, loo stop and then back to the nest> I hope after 21 days ish the urge will subside and she will go back to laying lovely brown speckledy eggs.

Biddy41, 26 August 2011

We tried to move our broody lady out of the nesting box everytime she was sitting, but she just run back to it. If we blocked the nesting box the rest couldn`t get in either. But our 14yr old son came home with a tip from his friend who is a farmers son, he said to isolate the chicken overnight, away from the nesting box. We bought a dog crate, put food and water in it and put the broody lady in the shed, safe, overnight, then she was released to free range with the rest of our flock. One night was enough to solve the problem which had been ongoing for 18 days she`s now happy and back to normal.

Louise, 5 June 2011

Maybe a silly question - but if you block the nesting box where do the other chickens lay? I've got 5 and one of the Speckeldy's has gone broody - so far I've been removing her from the nesting box several times a day and I check and remove eggs throughout the day.