One of my Marans has gone broody. I have tried just shutting her out of the coop but when the others want to go in to lay it gets difficult. I put her in a wire crate but can't remove the plastic tray as I discovered the wire on the bottom of the crate underneath the tray is much larger and she would damage her legs if I raise it up. I can't put the crate in the coop run as I feel she would overheat left in one spot. I bought her inside and let her out twice a day to exercise with the others but shut the door of the coop. When the others go back in I bring her back in doors and put her in the crate. I do this so it won't be difficult to re-introduce her later and it seems to work. However, so far she still runs back to the coop and would go in if I hadn't shut the door. It's only been two days, so shall I just persevere and wait a bit longer? I go on vacation soon and want to break her but also don't want a re-introduction problem. Am I doing the right thing?
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Hi Carol
I had 4 go broody and they were 2 per box when it was 110 outside a couple of weeks ago. I figured if it was too hot they would move and join the others in the shade and misters. Now there are only 2 left and they are all okay.
I had a broody hen once. I had read that dipping them in a bucket of cooler water will lower their body temp a bit and trick their brain into thinking they aren't broody anymore. People that wrote about this said they had immediate success. It took me about 3 days of taking her out of the box and dipping her. I can't say if it was the water that helped or she naturally came out of it on her own. But she did appreciate the dip in the water on those warm summer days. Good luck!
Kelly