Brood Breaking

"Six little hens, brooding in the nests.

One flew up and joined the flock. 

Ariel took the rest and threw them out the door.

'No more hens brooding in my nests!"

6 of our hens were broody last night, meaning they sit on their nests all day and night, hardly getting up to eat and blocking the nests from other hens. We decided enough is enough! I hear letting them sit triggers other hens to give up laying for sitting and creates an epidemic, and the longer it goes on, the harder it is to break. Because they are putting all their energy into hatching eggs, they neglect taking care of themselves. Also, I must be diligent about collecting eggs so they don't start to develop and, although fine for eating, look less appealing on the inside and are not good to sell.

Our poor perspective mother hens got the boot and were locked in the cold, wet chicken run over night. The idea is to let their breasts cool down and hormones cool off while they are distracted by being uncomfortable and having no where even mildly passable to nest. This morning, I am continuing to keep them out of the hen house full of tempting nests, but set them out on the pasture grass with a bucket of grain spread around to distract them. I also felt bad for the hens locked in the house and the 6 separated from the larger flock, so I let another 4 hens and the rooster out with them, keeping the other half of the flock in the now less crowded hen house and run.

By 1pm, I was feeling hopeful that maybe, just maybe, 18 hours of being cold and foraging and doing things other than brooding on the nest might be enough to break the spell and I opened up the doors to let the flock in and out of the hen house and run (barn still off limits). Several of the quarantined hens made a b-line for the nests. I intercepted and threw them back out, locking the small door behind them - I guess no one will be trusted to go in the hen house today! Every time I went in or out of the goat barn, my normally shy chickens were pushing past me and the goats to try to get in to the room full of soft bedding. I had to hold a chicken in each arm and block Esther with my foot to get in the barn!

Around 5pm I finally relented and dropped the ban, figuring it was nearly bed time and anyone heading back to the nests would soon be evicted again to the yard for another night anyway. Interestingly enough, the remaining (30 - 4 freezer = 26 - 8 chicks = 18 - 1 rooster = 17 - 6 broody = 11 layers) 11 chickens seemed to not lay out in the yard. I assumed when the time came their eggs would have to come out regardless of where they were, though they try to make it to a safe nest. Evidently they have a significant amount of control over that timing and waited until I let them back into the hen house to lay. Hopefully there will be no long-term damage from these experiments.

Sure enough, 5 of the hens were back in their nests, but the hen who previously was brooding in the goat barn seems to happily returned to the roosts with the other chickens. The 5 remaining brooders I have locked out for another night. Tonight it is not rainy and wet and cold and miserable like it was last night, so I have decided I must implement further restrictions to break the habit - not only are they to sleep outside, but they are also required to sleep on the outdoor roost, not huddled together on the ground still pretending to mother.

"Five little hens, brooding in the nests.

One flew up and joined the flock. 

Ariel took the rest and threw them out the door.

'No more hens brooding in my nests!'"