Oh yes... she's at it again.
Last year Jane went broody and goofed around in the nest for 56 days.
This year I was ready for her.
Though I'm not sure if it will work yet.
I bought a small wire cage, which I put together this afternoon. It came with some truly silly little wire clips which I declared hopeless.
I had no fear, because dudes, I have zip ties. 
1000 of them!
I find them the most useful little items on my homestead.
I put the cage together with zip ties in no time flat.
Here's Jane, wondering what the heck just happened....
Where's my cozy warm nest???
Here are the concerned citizens wanting to know if she was read her Miranda rights.
Here's the theory on caging her:
Hens go broody because they get a surge hormones that then raises their body temperature and they feel the need to hatch some eggs. Or something like that. So the word on the street is if you can lower her temperature by putting her in a cage with air flow underneath, the hormones will stop flowing and she will forget about motherhood... for now. Some people even go so far as to aim a fan on the hen to speed this up. I find that a little obsessive, AND fussy. So I am foregoing that step.
Though to be fair, this breed of chicken falls in a category in the hatchery catalog that says... "frequently broody". So she came with the disposition, and I knew about it. I just wasn't aware of how annoyed I would be by the whole thing.
I was afraid the cage might be a little tippy just on those two pieces of wood, so I scrounged around in the chicken run and found something to brace the front with...
See how handy zip ties are?????
I'm glad to see she isn't going to go on a hunger strike or anything drastic.
We shall see how things go. I'll let her out so she can go to bed with the other hens, unless she won't stay on the roost, then she will have to sleep in the pen inside the hen house.
Perhaps as time goes on, I may have to transition my flock to less motherly breeds.
Because frankly, I'm in it for the eggs.
Though to be fair, they are entertaining little feathered creatures. Eggs or no eggs. But I cannot afford THAT much pure entertainment. You know what I'm sayin'?
1000 of them!
I find them the most useful little items on my homestead.
I put the cage together with zip ties in no time flat.
Here's Jane, wondering what the heck just happened....
Where's my cozy warm nest???
Here are the concerned citizens wanting to know if she was read her Miranda rights.
Here's the theory on caging her:
Hens go broody because they get a surge hormones that then raises their body temperature and they feel the need to hatch some eggs. Or something like that. So the word on the street is if you can lower her temperature by putting her in a cage with air flow underneath, the hormones will stop flowing and she will forget about motherhood... for now. Some people even go so far as to aim a fan on the hen to speed this up. I find that a little obsessive, AND fussy. So I am foregoing that step.
Though to be fair, this breed of chicken falls in a category in the hatchery catalog that says... "frequently broody". So she came with the disposition, and I knew about it. I just wasn't aware of how annoyed I would be by the whole thing.
I was afraid the cage might be a little tippy just on those two pieces of wood, so I scrounged around in the chicken run and found something to brace the front with...
See how handy zip ties are?????
I'm glad to see she isn't going to go on a hunger strike or anything drastic.
We shall see how things go. I'll let her out so she can go to bed with the other hens, unless she won't stay on the roost, then she will have to sleep in the pen inside the hen house.
Perhaps as time goes on, I may have to transition my flock to less motherly breeds.
Because frankly, I'm in it for the eggs.
Though to be fair, they are entertaining little feathered creatures. Eggs or no eggs. But I cannot afford THAT much pure entertainment. You know what I'm sayin'?