Broody hen questions

[Hopeful homesteader]

My hen has been broody for a month now and when I went to check on her today, her back was covered in bedding which is pine shavings. I cleaned them all off her and then she started picking up more bedding and putting it back on herself. Is that normal behavior? I've never seen my other hens do that when they went broody so I'm not sure what to make of this but she seems to like it when I clean it out of her feathers and twice she started pecking lightly on my side after putting more bedding on her back as if to get my attention to clean it off again. This one is a speckled sussex, they have all been very sweet when brooding which surprised me cause I was expecting to be attached for reaching near them so this breed gets bonus favorite points for that lol.

My next question is several hens went broody in late March and successfully hatched their chicks and weaned them and now 1 hen has gone broody again, is this normal? I'm concerned for her health trying to go right back into it when she's just weaned her chicks maybe 2-3 weeks ago, I believe she only laid 1 egg before going full on broody now, she is a gold laced Wyandotte, not sure if her breed is more prone to broodiness or if some hens do it while others don't?

Last question is if the heat has any effect on triggering broodiness? I know it is hormone related but curious if raising temperature sets off the hormones since hatch is more successful in warm weather vs cold and if that could be the reason for hens trying to brood multiple times like this. If the heat is related how can I successfully break the broodiness if it's too hot to bring down their body temperature like with the broody jail method? I need to break the speckled hen soon if she doesn't come out of it on her own, I tried giving her eggs and she kept moving nests which caused the viable ones to die so I won't be giving her anymore this year at least. Not sure if I need to break the Wyandotte also, she didn't appear to lose any weight during her first brood and she comes out to eat every day. I just don't want to intervene with their natural cycles unless it's necessary but also don't want to allow her to put herself into a bad situation either. Some advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[DobieLover]

she started picking up more bedding and putting it back on herself. Is that normal behavior?

Yes, it is normal. Non-broody hens on the nest waiting to lay their egg will do it too.
This is MaeDae, a hen I helped hatch on May 1, 2020. She's never been broody.

1 hen has gone broody again, is this normal?

Yes, for her. Some hens go broody all damn summer!

if the heat has any effect on triggering broodiness?

Yes. I have a hen that will tip at the start of most heat waves.

how can I successfully break the broodiness if it's too hot to bring down their body temperature like with the broody jail method?

I would not wait. Put her in an elevated wire dog crate now. When it's hot, I will dunk my broody girls in a bath of cool water and put them in the crate soaking wet and aim a floor fan at them. I'll do this multiple times a day if it's really hot. And if she's been persistently broody (like yours has) I will leave her in the broody breaker for 4 days and will let her out about an hour before roost time at the end of the fourth day and watch her. If she roosts, she broke. If she wanders back to a nest box, she goes back in the breaker for the night and all the next day and I try again to release her near roost time.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Yes, it is normal. Non-broody hens on the nest waiting to lay their egg will do it too.

Yes, for her. Some hens go broody all damn summer!

Yes. I have a hen that will tip at the start of most heat waves.

I would not wait. Put her in an elevated wire dog crate now. When it's hot, I will dunk my broody girls in a bath of cool water and put them in the crate soaking wet and aim a floor fan at them. I'll do this multiple times a day if it's really hot. And if she's been persistently broody (like yours has) I will leave her in the broody breaker for 4 days and will let her out about an hour before roost time at the end of the fourth day and watch her. If she roosts, she broke. If she wanders back to a nest box, she goes back in the breaker for the night and all the next day and I try again to release her near roost time.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

Yes, it is normal. Non-broody hens on the nest waiting to lay their egg will do it too.
This is MaeDae, a hen I helped hatch on May 1, 2020. She's never been broody.
View attachment 3199016

Yes, for her. Some hens go broody all damn summer!

Yes. I have a hen that will tip at the start of most heat waves.

I would not wait. Put her in an elevated wire dog crate now. When it's hot, I will dunk my broody girls in a bath of cool water and put them in the crate soaking wet and aim a floor fan at them. I'll do this multiple times a day if it's really hot. And if she's been persistently broody (like yours has) I will leave her in the broody breaker for 4 days and will let her out about an hour before roost time at the end of the fourth day and watch her. If she roosts, she broke. If she wanders back to a nest box, she goes back in the breaker for the night and all the next day and I try again to release her near roost time.

Thank you, I only have 1 cage that could work for this and I can fit both of them in it together, would it be best to only do one at a time? Or cage the persistent broody and just dunk the repeat broody since its only been a few days for her? I also have a second coop that has 4 chickens in it that are about 3 months old but nearly the same size as the full grown flock, that coop is an open concept with no nest box yet, the coops are next to each other so both flocks have seen each other daily for 2 months now but haven't intermingled yet they're only separate because I had to brood them myself but I've read a change of scenery can help in the breaking process, would it be a bad idea to put one hen in there?

 

[DobieLover]

You can try crating two together. I've done it twice with success and once with "success" in that the one hen got pummeled by the other and both broke overnight. I don't think that is a good way to break a hen. If they get along, give it a try.

If the pullets have been next to the hens for a while I would let them intermingle provided you have lots of things to perch on, scratch around in and hide behind.

I also recommend you visit your local Craigslist and FB Marketplace and get yourself another small all wire dog crate for broody breaking.

 

[Aunt Angus]

You can try crating two together. I've done it twice with success and once with "success" in that the one hen got pummeled by the other and both broke overnight. I don't think that is a good way to break a hen. If they get along, give it a try.

If the pullets have been next to the hens for a while I would let them intermingle provided you have lots of things to perch on, scratch around in and hide behind.

I also recommend you visit your local Craigslist and FB Marketplace and get yourself another small all wire dog crate for broody breaking.

Can you maybe make a partition? I did that when I was brooding a duck and 2 chicks. I used welded wire. But you could probably use cardboard.

 

[DobieLover]

Can you maybe make a partition? I did that when I was brooding a duck and 2 chicks. I used welded wire. But you could probably use cardboard.

Depends on the size of the crate.

 

[Aunt Angus]

Depends on the size of the crate.

Yup. That's why I posed it as a "maybe" question. If they can fit 2 in there, there "may be" enough room for a partition.

I'm so lame...

 

[rosemarythyme]

If you have a big enough broody breaker and the birds in question generally get along, I'd try breaking both at once. I have bigger breakers on hand though, like a 4x4 portable exercise pen, so even with 2 broodies in there they have ample space.

 

[Hopeful homesteader]

It's a rabbit cage, 4ft long 2ft wide and 2.5 ft tall. I could put in a partition but so far I don't need to at this time. So one hen had hatched 2 chicks about a week after I gave the speckled hen eggs and this hen has decided to wean these chicks and they're only about 3 weeks old now but my rooster had been taking care of them alone and when they aren't with him they go in the coop and hang up under the nesting boxes. The speckled hen decided to come off her empty nest a few days ago and would just sit in the middle of the floor looking at these chicks and talking to them and all of a sudden she's adopted them and they've been following her and sleeping with her the last 3 days now so that's a double win. I just have Goldie the repeat broody I'm working with now.