Brooding age?

[electrycmonk]

Is there a generalized age different breeds will start to show "Broodiness?"

Yes, I have another new experience to add to my 1st year with a flock.....
One of our young Silkie's is showing the 'nesting' behavior over the last 3 days now. She was also keeping two eggs very warm as well till I got her to stand up. I wasn't sure what to think until I had put those eggs in the carton.... She didn't seem upset at me for doing any of that. She decided to get some food & water as everyone else was at this time. That was almost an hour ago when I was setting all the food & water to maximum refill. As I was finishing up and headed out she had already settled back into the nesting box.

So as of this week I'll safely call her a year old now. Original family got them in December last year. We got their last 3 silkies in mid summer..... So that's how the age is known.


As always thanks for all the wisdom & anicdotes.

 

[SurferchickinSB]

Is there a generalized age different breeds will start to show "Broodiness?"

Yes, I have another new experience to add to my 1st year with a flock.....
One of our young Silkie's is showing the 'nesting' behavior over the last 3 days now. She was also keeping two eggs very warm as well till I got her to stand up. I wasn't sure what to think until I had put those eggs in the carton.... She didn't seem upset at me for doing any of that. She decided to get some food & water as everyone else was at this time. That was almost an hour ago when I was setting all the food & water to maximum refill. As I was finishing up and headed out she had already settled back into the nesting box.

So as of this week I'll safely call her a year old now. Original family got them in December last year. We got their last 3 silkies in mid summer..... So that's how the age is known.


As always thanks for all the wisdom & anicdotes.

That’s about the age my 2 hens were when they started. They are constantly brooding, last year I even got one of them two chicks because she would not stop. I told them both they are not getting any more babies!

 

[Rooapalooza]

One of my two silkies went broody almost immediately after she started laying eggs. I think she was about 6 months old. She is an extremely motherly bird though. She pretty much hatches eggs, raises them for a month or two, then goes back to hatch more eggs. She is just over a year old and has already raised four groups of chicks. My other silkie has never gone broody.

 

[Cindy in PA]

I've had 3 different blue wyandottes go broody already. One started at about 6 months, the next 3 weeks later & now I have another one. They are 8 1/2 months. My Australorp 2 years ago at least had the decency to wait until she was a year old in the spring!

 

[aart]

Some breeds are more prone to be broody, but more about an individual birds hormone flows. Have had them go after laying for just a few weeks.
Supposedly silkies and bantams are notoriously broody, never had either breed tho.

 

[Rooapalooza]

Some breeds are more prone to be broody, but more about an individual birds hormone flows. Have had them go after laying for just a few weeks.
Supposedly silkies and bantams are notoriously broody, never had either breed tho.

You're totally right, every lady is different. I've had a total of four silkies, two never went broody, one did twice, the other has an addiction.

 

[MIHomestead4]

My smallest Black jersey giant went broody at 7 months and we now have 5 7 week old chicks

 

[electrycmonk]

Well, she had another egg she was sleeping on tonight. I got her to stand up & walk around some; she got so.e food and water then was back to the nest. The other two silkie girls have made sleeping nests & also go to their seperate corners for night sleep only. I'll be cleaning their house out tomorrow.... We'll see what happens tomorrow, for sure.....

 

[Rooapalooza]

Well, she had another egg she was sleeping on tonight. I got her to stand up & walk around some; she got so.e food and water then was back to the nest. The other two silkie girls have made sleeping nests & also go to their seperate corners for night sleep only. I'll be cleaning their house out tomorrow.... We'll see what happens tomorrow, for sure.....

Is she unusually loud and puffed up when you move her? That's a broody thing.

It's normal for silkies to sleep on the ground. Just don't let them sleep in their nest boxes, because they'll get poopy. A broody hen won't poop in her nest (unless she has an accident), so that's another way to tell. Personally I don't let my silkies sleep on the ground, because I had a bad experience where one silkie was sleeping against the door and something (I think) tried to pull her out through it in the middle of the night. I started putting them on the roosts, and they got used to it.

Do you have a rooster, so your eggs are fertile?

 

[Rooapalooza]

My smallest Black jersey giant went broody at 7 months and we now have 5 7 week old chicks

Did you take any pictures?