How to make a broody coop to stop your chickens and bantams being broody (takes 1 hour to make)
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Chickens | 130 comments
“Two of my hens are broody.” Bunty was exasperated.
“We’ve got a broody one too.”
This was our first summer of keeping bantams (a small friendly breed of chicken).
Bunty continued, “I wish I hadn’t suggested Bantams. I’ve discovered that they go broody at the drop of a hat.”
Years ago Bunty had kept chickens commercially. Those were a type of chicken bred for laying that rarely go broody.
She thought that she had the answer to our dilemna.
“We need anti broody coops. You’re good at making things. Why don’t you make a couple?”
My heart sank. I thought that they would take hours to make, imagining a sort of dog kennel with a wide gauge wire mesh floor.
To stop a hen being broody you need to stop her from settling comfortably. The trick is to construct a cage with a floor made of large wire mesh ( with at least 1 inches squares). Set the cage on bricks so that the floor is suspended, keeping the bricks to the outside edges so that she can’t sit on them. Provide a small drinking fountain and feeder within the cage and pop her in. She won’t be able to settle on the wire mesh floor and within a few days will get over her broodiness.
I went to bed early and woke at four. In the still cold light I realised that the entire cage could be made of wire mesh. I went to the garden centre after breakfast and bought three sheets of wire mesh measuring 90cm x 60cm. The cage is 60 cm long and 43 cm high and 43 cm wide This allows for an overlap at the joins.
Our broody coop is simple to make. Lay the wire on a flat surface, and bend 2 cm of wire mesh to a 90 degree angle along a 60 cm side. Then lift the opposite end and press it into the angled flap. Press firmly on the bulgy end and fold flat to make a clean angle and pull the ends apart. You now have the floor and one side. Repeat the operation for the roof and the other side.The flap may seem a bit fiddly but it makes the cage much more rigid and stable.
Now attach the the two halves together to make the body of the cage. I tied the two together with twists of wire at 5cm intervals. The front and back of the cage are made from the remaining sheet. Hold the sheet against the opening at the back and cut to fit using wire clippers. The back was attached using wire twists. The front is hinged at the top with sides that bend back a bit over the sides of the cage.
Having a hinge at the top makes it easier to put the chicken in the cage. If you put her in headfirst you can quickly drop the door down and secure it with pegs before she has turned around. We used clothes pegs but small bulldog clips would be good for a larger chicken.
The broody coop in the photo is the mark one version. I made Bunty a Rolls Royce (mark two) cage out of plastic coated wire. Definitely worth the extra investment as it’s stronger and more durable. Carol (our Maran) has never been broody. If she was, I’d make her a bigger cage (the hen needs to be able to stand up). And it would have to be stronger than the mark one cage as she is a much larger bird than the bantams.
Our broody coop sits in the Day Centre. Bunty had hers in the run with a bit of wood as a roof.
It took me a while to realise when the perfect moment of release should take place. The chicken in the broody coop will ask to be released immediately. But bide your time. Her comb will gradually change from pink to red. When it is red she can get out of jail. If you release her while her comb is still pink she will nip back to the nesting box and you will have to start the process all over again.
If you have a broody chicken and you want her to sit on fertilised eggs put a floor on the bottom of the broody coop, fold the door over the roof and you have a quiet area in which she can sit for twenty one days, with easy access to food and water. She needs to be able to move away from the nest so don’t lock her in. Ideally, place the cage somewhere that is protected from the elements. Or construct a simple roof like Bunty did (a bit of plywood slightly bigger than the cage). It’s not a good idea to let a broody hen stay in the nesting box as it puts the other hens off laying eggs.
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Hi Julie
That’s good news that your chicken is back to her old self without the need of a broody coop.
I’m not sure anout helping chicks out of eggs. Some people say yes others definitely no. All I know is that you have to be very, very careul not to damage the chick. I’ve never had to do it myself so I can’t help you here. This afternoon I’m going to see The Chicken Lady and will ask her as she has breed loads of chickens.
Update:
TCL says that she has helped chicks out of pipped eggs in the past. You need to be very gentle as it is easy to damage a chick. In an ideal world the chick pecks its own way out.
Thanks for the info, I have hubby on the rolls royce case but I actually think she is going to be fine she was out and about as usual once the eggs had gone. We had a total of 6 chicks born over the last two days. One chick looked like she was not going to make it out of the egg, she looked almost dead,but my daughter was determined not to give up on her and so eventually helped her out and after lots of nursing looks as though she is going to make it. Is it ok to help them out?
thanks julie
Hi Julie
Don’t feel bad about shifting your hen off the nest – it was just the right thing to do. She was clearly hungry and thirsty. Every now and then I receive an email from someone whose hen has died on the nest. This will happen if you don’t shift them off. They go into a trance like state and will starve to death if you don’t shake them out of this state every day.
The anti broody coup (detailed above) is so easy to make and will get your hen back to “normal” very fast. Like you, I felt awful pushing hens off the nest and hoped that they would get over their broodiness. They won’t. They’ll get stuck into being broody, disrupt egg production and be miserable all summer. The broody hormones increase as time goes on. It’s a bit unfair to your chickens to let them continue in this state for very long if they are not going to raise chicks. You need to nip the behaviour in the bud asap. Your hen will then enjoy the summer and the sunshine.
There is lots going on at our place today, not only did we have two chicken eggs hatch but we seem to have a hen gone broody, I realised this afternoon that she had hardly been out of the coop and so i lifted her out and off she went to eat and drink, I then nipped back to remove the eggs but noticed her heading back about 20 minutes later. I do feel awful taking the eggs away, they could never hatch, can anyone tell me if I did the right thing?. I am new to this and loving it, but would appreciate any advice. thanks Julie
Hi Diane
Leave your hens in the broody coup for a few days. If their combs were opink when you put the hens into the BC they should be red when you release them. Don’t wait for them to start laying again, the broody coup doesn’t allow them to settle so egg laying is generally out of the question.
If they seem to be taking their time to get back to normal you can always let them out. If they nip back to the nesting boxes put them back in the BC.
Broodiness has nothing to do with age as far as I know. It’s hormonal. It also has nothing to do with roosters (having or not having them).
Good luck! I™d love to hear how you get on.
i had a plastic coated wire box, and i put them in there with food and water, and i proped it up on 2 4 by 4’s how long should i leave them there, should i wait till i see them start laying eggs? with them in the broody box, should i keep that box inside the pen with the other chickens, thats where i have it. and when will the other hens begin to lay again? by the way, 1 hen is oldest and there is another that is just behind her, and well the other 3 have been laying eggs for about 2 months now… i dont know if age has anything to do with it. I only have hens bo roosters, cause i just wanted eggs, and no babies.
I have rhode island reds and 2 of them are broody and my egg productio nhas dropped to 1 or 2 a day rather than the 4 or 5 i was getting. is the comb this still true for this breed as well? I am new to this whole chicken thing, but i cant get these birds out of that nesting box, and one weird thing is they squeeze themselves into the same box… go figure?
Hi Brent
Thanks for this. I had no idea that they matured so quickly! What exactly are Cornish Crosses?
Taylor,
10 weeks max for most Cornish Crosses. They grow so fast and put on so much weight that they will end up breaking their legs. I’ve had 7 week old birds that were 6-lbs processed. If they aren’t having broken limbs they’ll be having heart attacks as they startle real easily.
Hi Taylor
I would imagine it would take about 8 – 12 months.