Broody behavior post-hatch, nature vs nurture

[DonyaQuick]

If a hen was raised by a broody mom and goes broody herself, is she more likely to mother the chicks well than if she was in a brooder? Or is much of the mothering behavior post-hatch just down to genetics again?

My first round of chickens were all feed store pullets raised by me; two went broody and I tried to hatch with both. One was a truly amazing mama, the other...well, she is my lovely chicken friend but we won't be doing that again. One of the pullets raised by my amazing mama just seems to have gone super broody in the last couple days. I actually was lining up fertile eggs and rotating them out for the newest to have some hatching eggs ready just in case...but I was hoping it would be my proven amazing broody mom again. If being broody-raised really says nothing about this girl's likely mothering behavior then I will probably not hatch with her since I really, really don't want another bad broody case (I'd probably rather wait and hope that amazing mama goes broody again).

 

[azygous]

Interesting questions. But the answer is probably not. It's more likely broody behavior is governed by genetics than by whether a broody herself was brooded by a hen.

It's best to go with the broody hen that has proven herself. It also means that her broody experience has taught her things, and she will be even better at it the next time around.

 

[Yardmom]

I know that not every broody is a great mom, but the cases where a hen goes broody and doesn't make a good mom are not very common. If you want chicks a new broody is likely to do fine.

 

[Ridgerunner]

I'm convinced it is genetics. So many of us get chicks from a hatchery and raise them ourselves. When these go broody most do a great job of hatching and raising the chicks. Since they are coming from a hatchery it has probably been many generations since a broody hen was involved. They've had no one to learn from.

I don't worry about first time broodies or anything like that. If a hen or pullet goes broody and I want her to hatch eggs I give her eggs. I usually have great success. I've had as much trouble with a broody that has previously successfully hatched and raised chicks as I have with first time broodies. In your situation I'd give her eggs and expect success, but that is just my opinion.

We get a bunch of day-old chicks from a hatchery and raise them in a brooder. They form a flock with a pecking order and other social conventions. They know to go to bed when the sun goes down. They tend to roost in the highest spot they can. They return to the nest to lay eggs. They do all this stuff by instinct. I think being a broody hen is similar. Some don't always get it right but the vast majority do.

 

[DonyaQuick]

It's best to go with the broody hen that has proven herself. It also means that her broody experience has taught her things, and she will be even better at it the next time around.

I am sorely tempted...but it really would be pretty hard to top what my little super mom Dimple was like. She never actually hit that point where she was done with the chicks either (whereas my other broody was done right after hatch). 10 months later I still sometimes peek into the coop at night to do a head count and see little 3lb Dimple trying to get her wing over an 8lb cockerel she raised. Dimple went broody in summer last year rather than spring, so maybe there's time yet.

I'm convinced it is genetics. So many of us get chicks from a hatchery and raise them ourselves. When these go broody most do a great job of hatching and raising the chicks. Since they are coming from a hatchery it has probably been many generations since a broody hen was involved. They've had no one to learn from.

That's a bit what worries me with my current broody if it really his genetics. The hen whose egg she came from really doesn't like chicks and has never been broody. Not sure what's on dad's side in that regard. In contrast, my good broody from last year likes chicks. She probably would've adopted my bad broody's rejected chicks if I'd been quicker about introductions; first time I took them out where she could see them her comb flopped right over and she went back to making mama sounds for a bit, but they were old enough they were fixated on me by that time.

They know to go to bed when the sun goes down.

Wait what? I don't think my hens have that gene LOL. Technically I don't have to shove a bunch of fluffy hen butts into the coop at night anymore, but that's only because I managed to dump that job on my two brother cockerels who seem to understand the concept. So now they get to deal with endless parade of "wait no just one more sip of water" and "but just one more tiny feed crumble"...bedtime with my flock needs the Benny Hill theme.

 

[Mrs. K]

I hate breaking a broody. I either give her chicks or eggs. I do not expect 100% success, and yet, I too have never had a bad broody hen. I would give the new one eggs, and if the proven bird later goes broody - I would give her eggs too! haha, I mean how do you resist?

I am not a big believer in people making bad roosters, but I do think that people trying to kind, careful and responsible wind up causing more problems with a broody hen. Leaving them to make the decisions works best.

Mrs K

ps. I do think that a flock that has chicks added to it every year, are much more comfortable with chicks being added. Which makes the broody hen more successful. People tend to blame the broody hen, but there are a lot of other circumstances.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Well, after my last post learning towards broody breaking, I have to say my current broody is so far showing a lot more similarity to my good one I had before than the bad one. Maybe that bodes well? One of the things that was notable about my good broody Dimple was that she actually got more friendly towards me when broody. She hated the other chickens but I was her new best buddy for some reason. My current broody, Squishy, has always been friendly with me, but now she's super snuggly if I pick her up even when in turkey mode.

I may be blaming my bad broody a bit too much for what happened. It was late in the year and the whole process didn't go well for her; had a whole separate thread on it at the time, but something was off from the beginning since she was often more like having an unresponsive robot than a broody hen. I had to intervene a lot to keep her from just dehydrating/starving herself. So far my current broody, Squishy, isn't showing any of those tendencies and she's always got a full crop when I check.

 

[DonyaQuick]

So after some discussion with my husband to it looks like I have a very extremely difficult decision to make. Oh so difficult.

Fertile eggs now, or day-old pullets in about three weeks?

I guess actually it's not difficult...I've got the broody now, she is being just the sweetest lovey fluff ball who just wants to steal everyone's eggs into one pile, and I am rubbish with an incubator. The odds of Squishy somehow reacting catastrophically post-hatch just seem really low with how gentle she's being. And day old pullets don't need a broody if I don't get second one...and if I get super lucky and get mostly pullets with a hatch then I don't necessarily need the a separate batch of pullets anyway...

 

[Mrs. K]

Fertile eggs - means rooster chicks..50%, day old pullets means much closer to 100% pullets.

I am going up to morrow for chicks for my broody hen. I set eggs, but none made it. I thought he was not a great rooster.

 

[DonyaQuick]

Fertile eggs - means rooster chicks..50%, day old pullets means much closer to 100% pullets.

I've been due a bachelor flock for a bit. I like roosters lol. Was sure last year I'd have a bachelor flock by now since I have three boys total, but wasn't expecting the two full brothers to be as bonded to each other as they are. They are inseparable. So instead cockerel #3 is just with his sister and progressively more interested in hugs from people than he is interested in her (he's also well past his feisty phase...go figure). Since I don't really want to breed brother and sister, it makes more sense to move the sister to the main flock (which is unrelated to her) and then form a bachelor flock with her brother and any other boys I hatch out.