Alright! What is going on?!?

[rebecca10782]

Is broodiness addictive? A few months ago, we had one girl start brooding. A few weeks later, one more settled onto the ground under her nest. She isn't even in a protected area, just on the floor. Then one more joined her on the floor and they have been sitting out in the open even though there are other nest boxes

They have been all smushed up together ever since. A few days later, another started brooding and now a few weeks after her, another! That is five hens! What is going on? From my observations on this site, it is pretty hard to get a hen to go broody. All of our girls are from My Pet Chicken. They are 2 EE's and 3 Marans. I thought this was bred out of them

Ironically, a month or so ago, I asked you guys how to get a hen to go broody. But I just wanted ONE to hatch out some babies. And now I am overrun

I guess it is good that we got more birds than we thought we needed. Originally, we were only going to get five. But we did buy some Serama eggs for the first two girls because I felt bad for them sitting and waiting for nothing to come

and the original girl just hatched two of the cutest little things I have ever seen! She is a very good mama

Here are some pictures.

 

[tomato lady]

Mine aren't old enough to go broody so I don't know anything about that, but those are some cute chicks!

 

[rebecca10782]

Well, these girls are only about eight months. I didn't think that hens this young would want to nest

 

[popcornpuppy]

I don't know too much about broody hens. I have a New Hampshire Red hen, 1 year old. She started laying eggs in Oct. or Nov. of last year Then this Jan. or Feb. she went broody for at least 2 months. Most of the info that I found all over the internet, not just on this site, said that this type of hen does not usually go broody. I love this website because it is full of real people with real life experiences. And I am just one of those people who can tell you from experience that broodiness may depend on the individual hen's personality.

 

[saddina]

If you don't wnt a hen to go broody, she will. Once you want one to be broody, none will oblige. Just how it works.