Aaargh - first broody of the year

[Millie1]

Lovely Orpington is broody and was sitting on three eggs tonight - she spent half of last summer broody and I had to lock all three girls out of the henhouse as I didn't have a crate. So I'm going to order a crate now - what size please? The Orp is the biggest of our trio. And do I just stick her in it with food and water 24/7?

Thanks!

We have the same - a lovely blue orpington who has been broody for ages. We have been advised to get a 'broody coop' if we want to hatch from her, but I have heard of putting them elsewhere with no eggs to sit on etc and booting them out regularly. No idea of size (sorry, seeing as that is your question), but there are lots of suppliers about who would advise. Orpingtons are apparently very, very broody hens. Even getting, ahem, made love to by a massive cockerel does not distract ours. Good luck:)

Thanks Adivic! She's a terror - spent half of last summer broody. Am now contemplating buying and putting some eggs under her. The kids would love it. Would keep the boys for table birds. Don't have a second coop but do have an empty dog kennel which would make a cosy spot for her whilst she sits. Have you done this at all? I wonder how quickly I need to move on it - she's on day 3 of broodiness.

when mine go broody I just turf them off, despite their loud protests, until they give up. I do have a Maran who gets a bit aggressive so use gardening gloves when she's the one to deal with

Thanks Catsrus. She's on 12 eggs now including 6 Maran eggs!

My big blue Cochin is broody. She's going in the box of shame tomorrow, a cat box with a wire lid, which is will invert, raise on a pair of bricks and make sure she's fed and watered with coop cups. A day or so in this usually does the trick. I put it in the secure run so she can't get foxed.

Did a couple of hatches last year (I have a hospital wing coop available for my girls), my ladies stayed broody for a week whilst I was sorting fertile eggs.

Don't forget to give them time to settle if you get them by the post or rattle car transport (overnight should do it).

.. And don't forget you're likely to have a 60% cockerel hatch, so know what you're going to do with the boys.

Thanks Tom. Gave them 24 hrs when they arrived and, much to the horror of family, have plenty of freezer space for the boys (unless we can re-home some!). Should I duck for cover now?

I really must sort a broody cage this year. We've had our girls two years now and last year I really struggled - locking the broody girl out meant the other girls couldn't get in to lay. Have the perfect dog crate sitting in front of me but it's our Border Terrier's bed so must get another!

Let us know how you get on.

My girl is now officially VAST. She is super hormonal and totally puffed out. She's had a day in the box of shame and now it's cooled down and raining. If she's still broody tomorrow she'll have a 24 hour lock in.

why 60% cockerels?

Just seems that way shalli - I know it should be 50 50 but from personal experience and that of friends (and also friends on chicken forum) it seems to go that way.

I heard that 60% thing but our first ever hatch last year we got more girls so was very happy. So happy that we started letting her sit again last week

And yes we did eat the boys (luckily we have friendly local farmer who helped us dispatch and prepare them).

We have our own cockerel and a whole range of different hens - the boy and some of the hens are legbars and we have some fab egg colours! So if anyone is after fertile eggs (last year's batch were 100% fertile!) of legbar/legbar-cross then happy to supply some - don't know the logisitics of it tho?

My postal bantam eggs came in special polystyrene egg posting boxes! Well done on the hatch. I have legbwrs and arqucunas as well, so some lovely colours. I had 4/6 boys, then 6/9 boys. My friend had 18/20 boys, ouch! Another friend keeps a large flock of hens which are dual purpose, so she takes the boys who can't be rehomed.

The basic principles of broody breaking are
a) Make it uncomfortable to sit down - achieved by keeping her on mesh that is off the ground
b) Ensure that cool air can reach that hot, bare breast of hers (achieved using the above)
c) Remove any eggs, including pot eggs.
Make sure you give her 24/7 layers pellets and water (but you should be doing this anyway). Leave her in there for 2-3 days. Then chuck her back in the main coop. If she returns to the nestbox, chuck her back into the 'sin bin'.

In an ideal world, she would remain within sight of the others to prevent problems with reintegration, but in reality, over a period that short, it's unlikely to be a problem.

A wire pet cage will do the trick nicely (so long as it has a wire mesh bottom; prop it up on a couple of bricks). Alternatively, it is possible to fashion one v. cheaply using some stiff-but-flexible plastic trellis (I can't be sure, but this looks like the right stuff www.wilkinsonplus.com/netting+trellis/wilko-get-gardening-multi-mesh-50cmx5m/invt/0008666/?htxt=PsAGyAqy%2FDSGVBgOHPBfATKVETOKIWHcwqoICuDrG%2FxTcDPfxIrYzUvEu76RzzM6wutKTeo9AOCB%0AtDs76aYYKg%3D%3D ), tied together with some cable ties, and with offcuts of wooden batons around the bottom to weigh it down / keep the shape at the bottom (attach using hoop nails or whatever it is that they're called). Use tent pegs to secure it to the ground. Shelter / shade can be found in the form of an open umbrella over the top. Use more of the same mesh, kept off the ground with more offcuts of wood, for the broody breaking element. If you remove the bottom bit, then it's also equally useful as an isolation pen for sick birds, and as an introducing cage for introducing new birds to the flock. Obviously you can't keep them in there overnight (or will have to move the whole thing inside to a utility room / secure garage) for fear of foxes & badgers.