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My Girls are Overly Broody!!
Guest:
Ok, how do I break the broody? I have several hens still on the nest. My best black is setting on Goose eggs. At one point, I had 18 broody Ameraucanas. What can I do to solve this problem? A few broody birds is alright, but all of them? Is that normal? I\'ve never had this problem before. HELP!!
bantamhill:
Do you have any crates you can modify so the bottom is slats spaced about 2-3 inches apart? When I need to discourage a broody hen I put them in the \"special\" crate where they stand or roost. I give them water, but withhold food for a day. With that many broody hens have you tried putting them in new pens together? At this point I might give them all an egg to hatch and get it over!
Did you let the eggs accumilate this summer? If you did, I would suspect that is why everyone is broody . . . could be your good luck also!
Michael Muenks
Guest:
Oh yeah, I took advantage of the situation. They have been hatching geese all summer, but it\'s time to stop! I\'ve tried the old \"light\" trick, but that didn\'t work. I have two that insist on sitting in an expty nest.
I\'ll give your suggestion a try.
John:
I find the buffs, both bantams and LF, are the broodiest or best setters. Since I use incubators, it is not a good attribute.
Mike Gilbert:
Angela,
Take away the nests. Put the broodies in pens where there is very little bedding/litter. Slat bottoms are good, wire bottoms OK too. Leave them there a week to 10 days. They will quit. Since they have been sitting, this is a good time to treat them for mites and worms. Any extra stress like that will help break up the broodiness in my experience.
Mike G.
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