Friday, September 18, 2009

Broody chicken prison works!

Using the advice from the link Linda put in the comments of the last post, I set up a broody chicken prison for Buttercup. It is a dog cage raised off the ground so she can't sit comfortably. I put mine on my garden cart. She was really unhappy at first but calmed down after a few hours. I left her in prison for 2 days and 2 nights.


She had a lot of visitors and was never lonely, unlike when she was in the coop.

When I let her out in the morning, she instantly started acting like a normal chicken! She took a dust bath, and pecked around for bugs and explored with the other chickens. That was yesterday. So far today, she is still out with the other chickens and acting normal. It is so nice to see her happy again!


No eggs yet, I imagine it will take a few days to lay again. The chicks are getting close to laying. A few of them have become REALLY friendly and we know what that means.

9 comments:

Joanna@BooneDocksWilcox said...

I'm so glad you found a remedy for ButterCup, bless her heart, she really wanted to be a Mama. Great to see her out and about.

Melody said...

I'm glad that you solved it! :-)

DianeLynn said...

Nothing drives me crazy as an over zealous broody hen...glad she snapped out of it.

Zachary and Jennifer said...

Hurray!

Jennifer

Leslie said...

What a good idea. I am glad to hear you found the solution to Buttercup's persistent broodiness. She looks much happier out in the field.

Linda Foley said...

That is so cool that the cage worked!!! I also read that the longer the hen is broody the longer it will be before she lays again, so you may still have a couple weeks to a month to go...

But at least now she can start laying again!

Gail said...

Wonderful to know Buttercup is back to normal.

Carla said...

Hooray! I'm so glad it worked. Hope she sticks with it. It's getting late enough in the season that she should begin molting and that will be the end of any broody thoughts on her part.

Unknown said...

Yes, I agree with Linda. It sometimes take a long time for them to get their body clocks going again. What season is it there? Spring here, so Autumn there? that means maybe no eggs 'till next spring.