I was so excited when my pullet started laying eggs. She was such a productive girl, but then she went broody. I read about breaking a broody chicken so I was all set to do it, but I soon found out that she would not be an easy one to break.
We don’t have roosters so we don’t have any fertilized eggs. We also only have two chickens so when one is out of commission it takes its toll on the other one. My goal has been to make our pullet Keypone as uncomfortable as possible so that she would give up wanting to nest and get back to normal.
She is a bit puffed up.
However she is such a determined girl that she is willing to put up with some discomfort. I initially put her in a pet carrier with a wire bottom and she fought it at first, but then she decided she wanted to stay there. I blocked off the nesting box by putting jars in there and she decided to lay on top of the jars.
She cracks me up with her determination to nest.
The only way I have been able to get her to roost at night is to put a plastic trash bag in front of the nesting boxes. Of all things, the plastic bag really seems to get to her. During the day when I am around, I close off the nesting boxes and coop altogether since our other chicken Buster is not laying. Keypone is always trying to get in there and when I try to open up the coop to clean it, I have to keep moving her out of my way.
The only positive thing I find with her broodiness is that she is easy to catch in that condition. I am constantly picking her up and petting her against her will. That is what she gets for being so resistant in her normal state. It really is a battle of the wills between us. The last time she was broody it took her over a month to snap out of it. I am determined this time to break her much sooner. It is hard having a chicken prone to broodiness, but I still love her.
