How to fix a Broody Hen

A broody hens is basically a hen that thinks she sitting on eggs that are fertile and is waiting for them to hatch.  Since we don't have a rooster there is no way this hen is going to hatch any eggs.  Honey, one of our Buff Orpingtons, is our only hen who goes broody, if you allow a hen to go broody and don't break her of the behavior she will stop producing eggs for 30 something days and I've read it could be contagious to the rest of the flock.   When Honey goes broody she will spend her entire day in the coop and sleep in the laying boxes, she will also ruffle her feather and make strange chicken growls at you if you try and go near her.  So, to break the hen of the behavior you have to remover from the main coop and put her in a cage of some sorts with a chicken wire bottom of the cage.  its important also that you keep the hen some where safe at night, I keep her in my kitchen, and during the day you want to make sure the hen can see the coop... basically your making her forget about the behavior.  This usually takes 3 days and 3 night on average for us to break her...

Honey in the kitchen

Honey in the broody cage out side during the day

Dahlia trying to steal honey's food... 

After the third night in the morning I'll take honey out of the cage and set her free, later that night ill check to see if shes back in the laying boxes, if so she goes back in the cage for another day or so, if not then she back to laying eggs soon!  But usually it only takes 3 days and 3 nights.

Meet the Chickens

The crew

Our chickens are free range chickens, meaning we do not keep them in their coop, the coop door remains open all day so the chicken can run around then garden, dig, chase flies, hunt worms, find shady hiding spots, run, and be happy.  We chose to fence in the garden rather then fence in the chickens!

Honey is a 2 year old Buff Orpington.  She lays large brownish pink eggs, goes broody on a regular basis (and is our only hen who goes broody) and loves to eat those big juicy horned tomato worms!

Dahlia is a 1 year old Silver Laced Wyandotte.  She lays large brown eggs and is definitely a rebel of the pack and is a great spider hunter!

Rosie is a 1 year old Easter Egger.  She lays medium blue green eggs and is a snug bug! She loves to be held and cuddled by her mama =)  And I love holding her!

Lucy is a 2 year old Easter Egger.  She lays large blue eggs, she's the first to go to bed, the first to wake up, and the first to start squawking loudly early in the morning for her scratch.

Batman is a 2 year old Golden Laced Wyandotte.  She lays large brown eggs and is the alpha female of the bunch... yes she can be a bitch! 

Betty is a 2 year old Buff Orpington.  She lays large baby pink eggs.  Betty loves blue berries, having a conversation with you in her sweet peep chick language and loves to be held ... by anybody who comes to visit the gardens.

Eggs produced by our six lovely ladies.