Is she considering going broody?

[CitricPrincess]

I've only had experience with one broody hen in my so far measly 3 years of chicken keeping. This was my favorite hen Banshee, a splash old english game bantam who I sadly lost a couple months ago to an unknown predator. She went broody at around 6-8 months old (don't remember exactly) with no warning what so ever, just one night I found her sleeping in the nest instead of on the perch with the other birds, and she stayed there till the eggs I put under her a couple days later out of curiosity hatched. She lost the first clutch due to my noobish mistakes, went broody early the next spring to hatch a clutch of guinea eggs that she sadly lost in the Snake Wars when she almost lost her own life as well to Nemesis the Black Rat Snake and his bull snake accomplice (there's a whole saga here, but I digress), managed to raise the 4 hatches of her 3rd nest to adulthood later that year, protecting them so fiercely she had the whole coop of non-bantams cowering under her pigeon-sized glare, and then tried to brood another nest in mid autumn which I broke her from because it was getting way too cold to bother with chicks. All this is to say, so far my experience with broody hens has been straight forward and fairly simple, and for that and many other reasons I miss that beloved hen dearly.

One of the eggs she raised successfully, though, was her own, and Singer (Buff Orp roo x OEGB hen) has grown into a beautiful little hen, carrying much of her mother's character if not quite as brave or sociable. When I lost Banshee, I put out a few fake eggs in hopes of convincing any of my hens to go broody early enough to hatch the last few Banshee eggs I have, especially hopeful that Singer would pick up this trait from her pedigree. The Banshee eggs have ceased being any good to put under someone, but I leave the fake eggs there because I'll put other eggs under any hen that does want to hatch some. These last couplefew days I've noticed Singer hanging out in the next box on the fake eggs at odd hours, often late in the evening well after any laying has stopped for the day. I usually see her sleeping up in the rafters, as she normally does, if I check late at night, and when I get home from work and let them out for a couple hours of free range, she's right there with them. It's been two or three days since I've gotten an egg from her, not long enough to say she's stopped laying, but I do usually get an egg from her every other day.

Is this pre-broody behavior I've seen mentioned, like she's thinking about it? Is she 'broody' but really bad at it? Other/ None of the above? I'm hopeful she is broody, so that trait may continue in Banshee's legacy, though the timing is laughable as I did just order a number of OEGB chicks to arrive in early may in hopes some of them may be hens with personalities comparable to Banshee's.

Sorry for the long-winded post, I do tend to ramble, but I'm curious about Singer's behavior as Banshee was much more 'Either I'm brooding or I'm not', none of this think about it or false alarm antics.

Singer in nestbox late this evening.

Singer being a loner rafter bird, as she normally sleeps.

 

[sourland]

Sounds as if she may be pre broody.

 

[Shadrach]

I'm pretty much convinced that hens plan to go broody. I don't believe it is the sudden switch on and off that some people believe.
I got to the point where I could tell if a hen was likely to go broody long before she started strutting around all puffed up and swearing at the other hens.
The most obvious indication I discovered was in a free range setting a hen who had laid her eggs say in the tribe coop for a few months, suddenly switched to another, often quieter location to lay her eggs. Sure enough, once she had laid what she considered a satisfactory clutch she would disappear one day and assuming I had noticed and located her new nest, there she would be sitting on a pile of eggs.
One other early sign is an increase in feed consumption. The hen knows that she may not leave the nest for the forst two to three days. Turning the eggs in those forst few days of incubation has a marked impact on the hatch rate and the health of the chicks.

 

[Mrs. K]

I so have been there, "OH I think she might, oh maybe not, WAIT there she is again. Then I get excited and immediately put eggs under her, to see her quit, and then 4-5 days later stick to the nest like a tick, and I have eaten up the fertile eggs.

So put a pile of eggs in there, say a prayer to the broody Gods, and if she IS BROODY, then stick the chicks you ordered under her.

Mrs K

 

[doctormap22]

One of my RIR hens wouldn't let me have her eggs this morning when I was gathering eggs. When I went back later she was still sitting there. I stuck a couple more fertile eggs under her, hoping that maybe that will encourage her to stay there. I lost one of my RIR hens a few weeks ago when she apparently went broody and didn't tell me. She hid out in the hay barn and a predator got her, we found her the next morning sitting on a clutch of eggs. So now I am trying to encourage this hen to stick around in the nesting box instead of going out to the hay barn.

 

[doctormap22]

Well today when I went to gather eggs the same hen was sitting on her eggs all fluffed up like a beach ball. She is growling at me. I think she is getting serious. Yesterday when I checked on her in the afternoon she had joined the rest of the flock out foraging in the yard, so I took some of the other nice eggs from the other nesting boxes and added them to her clutch, and then arranged them nicely so as to give her a bit of encouragement. I don't actually recall how many eggs there were all together, but perhaps 8 or 9. Last summer I had two hens set on their eggs and hatched out 5 chicks but a predator killed them due to a mismatch on the automatic door. So I am hoping to get another shot at this.

 

[doctormap22]

This hen has been giving me fits. She was off the nest two days straight, so I took all the eggs, an even dozen. Then, yesterday, she was back on again, doing her broody thing again, all fluffed up and growling at me when I was gathering the eggs. Again today, same thing. One of the eggs was out from under her, kind of cold, as it got down to 40 degrees this morning, so I sorta played with it, tucked it under her in front, and she took it and tucked it under her with the rest of the eggs under her. When I went back to fill the feeder she was sound asleep with her head tucked under her wing. I don't know, maybe she is going to stick with it this time, who knows the mind of a chicken?

 

[rosemarythyme]

This hen has been giving me fits. She was off the nest two days straight, so I took all the eggs, an even dozen. I don't know, maybe she is going to stick with it this time, who knows the mind of a chicken?

She may not be fully broody yet. Has she ever hatched before? Wait until she stays on the nest 2-3 days before putting eggs under her (or incubate them yourself, and then put the chicks under her once they hatch if she stays broody).

 

[doctormap22]

Well, that RIR hen gave up and abandoned the eggs, but then one of my barred rock hens decided she wanted to give it a shot. Monday she started setting on eggs, so I left her with some eggs, and gave her some additional eggs, which she accepted. Tuesday and Wednesday she was off the nest getting her morning treats with the rest of the flock, but then she was back on the nest the rest of the day. When she was off I checked the eggs. There are twelve of them, an even dozen, so I guess she figures that's enough. Yesterday she didn't get off at all during the day, so I was getting a bit concerned but today she was off again for the morning treats, food and water break, so I guess she's okay. This makes day five in a row, so I think this is for real. I have been incubating eggs this year for the first time but it is so much more fun to watch the hens doing it "au naturale." If this works I expect her hatch date around May 15.

 

[doctormap22]

It is now day 11. This barred rock hen was getting off the eggs every day for treats for an hour or so, or at least every other day. But now she has not been off the nest for the last 3 days. I offered her some water today, but she was not interested. I had to move her to a different nesting box, as that one was not mobile. I have moved her closer to the floor in the hen house so that when the chicks start hatching they will be able to get in and out easily. It was so amusing to see her rearranging herself on her eggs after I moved her to her new digs.