Can you MAKE a hen go BROODY?

[jeremy]

I know it seems like an odd question, but i was wondering if there was any possibility of forcing a hen into broodiness?

The reason being, in about 3 weeks I'm going to have fluffy butts again! I was researching brooder ideas after my cardboard box disaster last season and the idea just kind of hit me. Why not let a momma hen lend a helping hand? Or wing? Possibly cutting the time the babies have to be indoors and to help with the introduction of new members to the flock.

Does anybody have any ideas/tactics/previous experiences with turning their girls into nurturing mothers?

BTW, the hens going down the hopeful maternal road would be Delawares, that are almost a year old. They lay regularly and are super sweet and docile. My only concern is the time span that I've got to "trick" the hen into sitting on unfertilized eggs, that suddenly turn into peeping day old chicks. Would she fall for it? Does the mommy mode just kick in?

Thanks!

 

[mrandmrschicken]

This is a method of forcing I have only heard of, not tried.
And yes, it might sound mean..... I have only heard this. This is way things were done in the old days. Maybe some still use this method, just don't want to be ridiculed.
Find a bucket or a container large enough to hold a hen or an older pullet. Inside the bucket, place a few eggs. Place the bird in the bucket with wire over the top and held down in a way so she can't get out. Leaving her in there, confined, in the small space with the eggs for a few days is supposed to spur her natural tendency to produce the hormone needed. Don't know if it works, I was told it worked like a charm..

 

[Lee]

There was a short article in an issue of Backyard Poultry where this 12 year old boy shared his method and he got it from his grandfather. Basically what he does is, he covered a rabbit cage with tar paper to make it dark. Provide some kind of box to hold the nesting material and put the hen in the nest box in the cage. Each morning and evening he would take her out to eat and drink for about 20 minutes each time. He said it took about 4-5 days for the hen to go broody and stay on the nest without the tar paper. But, it was still best to provide a dark place, so he only took the tar paper off the front of the cage. This is the best I remember how the article read and I didn't save that issue. Passed it on to a friend, I think. HTH

 

[Chickenaddict]

I cant guarentee it will work but i did it once with great success. Let eggs sit in the nest until one of the hens feels like its a full clutch then she may or may not set on them. Worked for me but like i said only once, karma came back and bit me in the butt this year, when i didn't want any broodies i first got 6 then another so 7 broodies total. Want one of mine? lol

 

[Cockatrice6420]

Ours are spoiled also. When we give them scraps we holler "chicken treeeeeats!"and the whole flock comes running. So many colors streaking and bobbing across the yard. Then they all gather around our feet and it's like wading through the aftermath of a pillow fight.

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

Quote:
im quite tempted to try this....im sooo desprite

I hide my face in shame

 

[IwannaBEaMERMAID]

Quote:
GASP !! I HAVE A COVEREWD RABBIT HUTCH AND TARP !!! hmmmmm......ideas ideas

 

[rcentner]

I had a hen go broody when I took her out of the flock. She was being mean to all the other hens and I wanted to change her status to see if she would be a little nicer. So I put her in a large dog crate for a week and let her do her own thing by herself. I noticed she was sitting on an egg and every time I saw her she was sitting on that egg (she is an old chicken that lays very little these days). When I removed the egg it had clearly been incubated, then I noticed the hen had pecked all her under belly feathers out, I put her back with the group and she is a little nicer, but she has not laid an egg since (not really worried cause she is so old) but I think she was all set to be a mama. It made me wonder if I put a hen in a cage like that again, if that works to get them in a broody mood? idk just wanted to share my thoughts there

 

[chickenannie]

The main thing that makes mine go broody is NOT removing eggs from the nest. Just do that early this spring(March or April), and watch what happens.

 

[momofdrew]

Quote:

from what I hear the buff orbigtons amd the game birds are the best chicken to go broodies.

Silkies are very best broody hens from everything I have read..they will try to hatch rocks and golf balls...My silkie went broody at 8 months