Give her food and water as normal but no nesting material or bedding in which she could attempt to make a nest. The idea is not to limit her food or water but to increase air circulation around her legs and chest. If you choose to do this, place her in a cage with a wire floor. Instead, considering removing your hen from the coop and nest altogether and placing her on her own. Removing her from the nest and cooling her off several times a day takes a lot of work and unless you’re at home throughout the day, simply not realistic. Silkie jail might sound cruel but it’s actually in the best interest of your hen. Wrap the bottle in a teatowel first however, as applying a frozen bottle directly to the skin or feathers could cause injuries. You can also stand your hen in cold water for a few minutes every time you remove her or use a bottle of frozen water. When you remove a hen from the nest, you increase the cold air circulation around her chest and legs and this can combat the physically changes I talked about earlier. Bear in mind that you’ll need to do this consistently throughout the day because every time you remove her, she’ll eventually end up going back to her nest and/or eggs. If you have a single silkie hen that is being broody, you can leave her in the coop but simply remove her from the nest. This means that silkie hen cannot make a nest in the first place. Such nestboxes are also clean of nesting material too. Chickens cannot brood eggs in this case, which helps to stop broodiness developing. This can be a good option because as soon as an egg is laid, the nestbox rolls it away. That way your hens can still lay their eggs but the broodies can’t remain on the nests for long.Īnother option is to use roll-away nestboxes. ![]() If you let your hens out in the morning for instance, block access after midday. You can attempt to block nests after a certain time. If you have an entire coop of hens, for example, blocking a nestbox for one broody will mean none of the other chickens can gain access to lay their eggs. ![]() Unfortunately this simply isn’t possible in many situations. A quick and easy way to try and prevent broodiness occurring once the first signs appear is to block access to the nestbox.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |