Broody behavior

[Aardyn]

My newest chicken Bravo appears to be showing some broody behavior. It's not too bad at the moment. She will spend the morning sitting on whatever eggs we have in the nesting box, but once I've come to collect them she will wander out a bit later and join the others. She's pretty well behaved when I come for the eggs, she doesn't leave but lets me take them without much more than little grumbling. No hissing or pecking.

Having never had a broody hen, what do I need to know to look out for?

I wouldn't mind having her hatch out some chicks eventually, but I'm only allowed 8 hens where I live so I certainly can't let her have hatching eggs every time she wants to. And as my husband has weirdly become allergic to eggs (when he never was before) I'm the only one eating them other than the gifting of eggs to friends, I don't really need more than the 4 I have now. My oldest chickens are about 2 years old now, I was thinking of waiting another year or two before adding another couple of hens.

 

[sourland]

Some hens linger in the nest box after laying. Time will tell if she is truly broody or not.

 

[Aardyn]

Some hens linger in the nest box after laying. Time will tell if she is truly broody or not.

Well considering this chicken wont come within 4 ft of me normally even when I have treats, and will normally run to the other side of the chicken run when I come outside, the last 3 days of just sitting there letting me collect the eggs, and give her a pet or two seems like unusual behavior to me.

 

[sourland]

Okay.

 

[aart]

THis is my go-to way to tell if a hen is broody or not:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?

If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

If I can't or won't allow them to set and hatch,
here's how I break the broodiness:
https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/broody-breaking-ala-aart.77915/

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