Why are my hens not going broody?

[eshez]

No I am just wondering why they are not going broody. We have 35 new hatched chicks and i am not going to risk putting the chicks under any hens, but do you have any tips on how to get them broody?

 

[1cock2hens]

No I am just wondering why they are not going broody. We have 35 new hatched chicks and i am not going to risk putting the chicks under any hens, but do you have any tips on how to get them broody?

Well they won't go broody if they don't have any eggs to sit on. If a hen is prone to going broody it normally will if it has a nice pile of eggs and reasonable weather. You can't force it, you can only give them what they need to thrive and with luck they will be triggered into going broody.

 

[NatJ]

Well they won't go broody if they don't have any eggs to sit on.

Some hens will go broody, even on an empty nest. It is one of those things that seems to depend on the hen.

But I do think a few eggs make broodiness more likely. Leaving a few fake eggs in the nest is a way to avoid any real eggs going bad if the hen doens't go broody.

 

[SueT]

You have a lot of non broody breeds. Also hens don’t usually go broody in the fall or winter at least mine never have.

 

[1cock2hens]

Some hens will go broody, even on an empty nest. It is one of those things that seems to depend on the hen.

But I do think a few eggs make broodiness more likely. Leaving a few fake eggs in the nest is a way to avoid any real eggs going bad if the hen doens't go broody.

Generally they don't, you speak of the minority.

 

[NatJ]

I got some new hens in a year ago and not a single one has gone broody ONCE! Do you guys have any idea why?

I just realized some of us forgot to emphasize one of the most important things: season of the year.

Hens are most likely to go broody in the springtime.
Some go broody in the summer or fall but not as many, and very few go broody in the winter.

The breeds that go broody most often are also the most likely to do it at any season. The breeds that are less likely to go broody (like the ones you have) will have the best chance of going broody in the spring or early summer, with much less chance the rest of the year.