ALL BROODY!!!!

[CWP1966]

All my years of messing with chickens I have never seen so many go broody at the same time. Austrolorp, Buff, Maran,Barred Rock , White Rock, Mutts.....All 1 year old, different coops. I have others that are going on 3 years old and never went broody. Do they get it from seeing the other do it? 2 in 1 box. One hen kicked the other out and took over in another coop. Another coop/run has 12 hens and a roo with 4 nest box. 4 broody in 3 boxes. Another is on the ground in the run with dibs under her wings. What's going on? Help please. My egg selling business was just getting to go good. I'm having to turn people away now because I don't have enough. BTW, I candle all my eggs before selling them, then clean if needed and put in the fridge. Thanks..........JDR

 

[LRH97]

Ugh the broody "disease"! It's struck my flock too. I'm up to five and quite possibly six as of this morning. ALL of my Blue Laced Red Wyandottes, one Cochin and a Jersey Giant and now one of the Dorkings is acting like she wants to set too! The worse it's been for me in a few years; it's just been one right after the other. I usually take advantage of a broody, but I certainly don't need five or six at once. I've always put unwanted broodies in dog crate with just feed and water, no litter. They usually break within a couple of days. Remember the longer you let them set, the deeper into the broody "trance" they get. It's best to start breaking ASAP. Works for me nearly every time.

 

[Pstock44]

I had 3 of my 5 go broody. I'm in my 1st year and my hens are too. When the 1st one started we gave her 12 eggs because we wanted chicks anyway. When the 2nd went broody we tried breaking her, didn't work so we gave her 4 eggs and moved hen 1 to a brooder coop and run. When a 3rd went broody we gave her 2 fake eggs.

Hen 1 hatched 8 chicks and doing great. Hen 2 hatched 3 chicks and we left them in the main coop. A day after they hatched we pulled the fake eggs from hen 3. Hen 2 is the dominant mother but hen 3 shares in the care frequently. If hen 2 doesnt like something she steps in and takes charge. No one is broody now so hoping hen 3 starts laying again soon.

5 hens and two eggs a day means our egg stock has been dwindling! I guess we'll be keeping more hens than I originally planned! It's been fun learning how all this works though.