Can anyone help me out here or shed there wisdom or opinion with me on if they have had any luck with there barred rocks going broody. Had that been bred almost completely out of these chickens or is there a good chance out of my 4 hens I may have atleast 1 go broody. Thanks so much guys. Newbie here!!
Hi, welcome to BYC!
Yes, it's possible for one of you Rocks to go go broody. No matter how many times people say such and such breed isn't broody... I've seen that breed be broody, hatch and raise chicks. Including white leghorn and sex links!
That being said, I have had hatchery Barred Rocks in my flock for a while. And yes one out of three of those ladies did go broody (during her second year), sit for a while and happily raise a clutch of 9 adopted Marans chicks!
And she was a GREAT mama, never left anyone behind... though she didn't quite pull enough feed out of the feeder for all the babies. I just helped by making sure there was extra in their reach. If I'm not mistaken, she might have even tried being broody a second time after raising that clutch. But with too much broodiness and WAY too much chicken math going on at my place, she went to a new home.
IMO you are more likely to get a broody lady if you provide the right nutrition. Which IMO does NOT mean 16% layer feed for Rocks which are a dual purpose breed and not a light bodied, prolific layer breeds. I feed 20% protein flock raiser with oyster shell on the side. I do this also because I have chicks, juveniles, molters, roosters, broody's and layers in my flock most of the time. More protein has also been shown to give better hatches and chick vitality after hatch which to me says better egg nutrition for my family.
Note the link I'm using has a misprint in one of the tables that says 5-17% and should say 15-17%....
http://ucanr.edu/sites/poultry/files/186894.pdf
Anything above 30% long term can be detrimental to health.
Also, a hen will go broody even if you collect eggs everyday. Adequate nutrition, space, and security are your friends. Beyond that it's completely hormonal.
I used to think I would never be lucky enough to get a broody.
Now when I get a broody I'm like
! Too many broody's... and they won't lay eggs while they sit 3 weeks and another 6-8 weeks for brooding, and even another 2 weeks after booting the babes before I start to see eggs again sometimes. So 12-16 weeks at my place is a long time.
No eggs for eating or hatching. And beware, broodiness can be contagious! I keep other non broody girls so we can still have eggs. And note broody's will not usually be friendly towards you OR teach their chicks to like you.
And most of all, you need to have a contingency plan for any cockerels you hatch. 80% is my usual rate of boys! Adopting sexed chicks from the feed store/hatchery is good way to avoid that issue (usually). Boys mature faster and start trying to mate earlier, so I recommend a separation plan by 12 weeks old at the latest.
Sorry so much info!
Short answer is... Yes, a barred rock CAN go broody!
