Lizzy dreams of plastic children

I always thought if a hen were to go broody, it'd be Blue. Even before she started laying, she was the most interested in the nesting boxes. The hen who hunkers down for hours and just gets comfy in there.

A couple weeks ago I went in to the coop to check on Lizzy, she'd been on her nest for 5 hours now! she puffed up at the sight of an intruder and made angry dinosaur noises at me. She growled as I searched in her warm tummy fluff to see if she had laid, pulling out 2 eggs.
Oh! one is a plastic training egg, okay, I don't need that.
I placed it back in front of Lizzy,
She pauses
then reaches out and carefully tucks the plastic egg back under her fluff. Puffing out again to keep her 'baby' warm.

 

Now, it's getting towards summer down here, and I'm being bombarded with baby chick and duck photos on facebook. Videos of adorable puffy mamas and cheeping tiny babies, little duckies having their first swims... I'm trying very hard to not add to our flock! there are already more than a few chicken breeds I'd like. But we don't need more fluffers right now, we already have too many eggs, 5 chickens and 3 ducks is fine.
So I had no plans for Lizzy to have actual non plastic eggs, some hens can get over being broody, but we were worried Lizzy would sit and waste away pining for her unborn plastic chicks.
But how do you break a broody hen?

 Blue was in another nesting box, sympathy brooding I guess as she never actually sits for too long. Both hens were moved outside and plied with sunflower seeds.
Blue instantly forgot her warm comfy spot, but as night fell and the birds settled, Lizzy had returned to her plastic egg.

The next day she was even more determined, if moved away from her nest to mingle and forage, she would scurry around before high tailing it back.
Chuck lowered his wing and danced around her, Lizzy puffed up and growled at him.
I'd read that some people place ice in nesting boxes to make the area uncomfortable and to cool a hen down, we didn't actually try this as I was worried the hens would stop wanting to lay in the boxes. We did try giving Lizzy a cool bath (while giving her a butt clean) but nothing would deter her.
Lizzy wanted plastic babies

 

So we invested in an anti-baby cage ( a large dog cage) with a wire floor, something that would allow air flow, to cool her down, make her a bit bored,

something that could be moved outdoors when the flock moved outside during the day so they wouldn't forget her and she could hopefully remember being a non puff ball chicken.

She complained, and kicked over her food bowl until we tied it to the cage. She tried nesting in the water dish, I reached in to give her fresh water, she thanked me by flying up at my face and running as fast as her little legs would carry her back to her little plastic egg.
At night the cage was moved into the coop so she could chat to her friends, she backed up into the corner and spread herself as wide as she could.

 

After 6 days and a few cooling foot baths miss Lizzy slowly transformed from a puffy, clucky, angry ball of hormones back to her cheeky chicken self

 

 

I think she forgives me. She even started laying again a few days ago!

 

 

Blue on the other hand, is still happy to be a part time nest hog, full time tart