Breeding for broodiness...

[LaurenRitz]

So far there have been enough distinct differences between the eggs that I can differentiate. I keep the newest eggs separate. If a bird goes broody I select the eggs I want her to hatch. I mark them and remove any eggs that aren't marked.

As the numbers grow that system will probably get unwieldy, but for the moment there is no plan to keep more than ten hens in a coop.

I currently have two BAs laying out of five hens. Two just finished molting and the last is raising a chick.

With these two pullets, one lays a more rounded egg and the eggs are always speckled. None of my other hens lay speckled eggs. The JG egg can easily be differentiated by size and color, and the one adult BA has a very pink egg.

Two of my 5 have gone broody in the past. One I will not be setting her eggs even if she does go broody (medical problems, and her eggs are very distinctive). The other two are pullets.

Banding the broodies is a good idea.

 

[dekel18042]

Sure, but broodiness is part of my goal. At this point the eggs are a side benefit. Any hen that just stays broody is going to self-eliminate. Any hen that doesn't go broody at all will also self-eliminate in the long term.

Hens that don't go broody or seldom go broody will not necessarily self eliminate as long as there are other hens to act as surrogates or incubators. My choice for hatching eggs is either my most productive layers or sometimes I breed and hatch for color as I love a colorful egg basket.

 

[LaurenRitz]

Hens that don't go broody or seldom go broody will not necessarily self eliminate as long as there are other hens to act as surrogates or incubators.

When I say self-eliminate, I refer to the idea that her eggs won't get hatched--her genes won't be passed on. I simply won't set any of her eggs

 

[Brother Scott]

I'm curious about the practical details of this. When a hen goes broody, she quits laying eggs. At that point it is too late to start collecting her eggs for hatching. Also, hens tend to share nests, so their eggs are all mixed up in one nest (or a few nests.)

Are you going to collect and mark every egg, then if a hen goes broody you can give her own eggs back to her?

Or leave all the eggs in the nests in hopes that a hen goes broody? (But she might set on old eggs, and on eggs from other hens.)

Or keep the hens in individual cages, so they cannot possibly share nests, and let the eggs build up in each nest so the hen can hatch them if she does go broody?

If they are free ranging, there is some chance of each hen choosing her own nest, then going broody and hatching her own eggs. But even then, there is a very high chance that several hens will lay eggs in the same nest.

As a practical matter, it might be easier label each hen who does go broody (maybe with a specific color of legband), and then the next time she is laying, you can collect her eggs for hatching (still need a way to be sure which eggs are hers, if the eggs all look alike). Or if enough of your flock goes broody in the spring, remove all the ones that don't (cull them or sell them or just keep them in a separate pen), and then only hatch eggs from the pen of hens that have a history of going broody.

I have an egg production pen where all hens start. If they go broody they go into breeding pen. This way only broody hens are getting bred. Non broody produce eggs only none hatched.

 

[Chicken_tiger_catt]

Get yourself a silkie or two, they'll brood at the drop of a hat.
Any chicken can go broody or not go broody, they're individuals.

yeah, silkies are known for that. I would also suggest Americana hens.