broody chicken

[TwoCrows]

Quote: It is common for the others to pick on a broody. I see it too in my flock. What is happening is, the rest of the flock that is not broody see her as something is wrong with her....she is growling at everybody, she is cluck cluck clucking at the others, she has a pale comb, she is acting weird as far as they are concerned...etc. And the flock thinks she is sick or disturbed. LOL They will stop picking on her when she stops being broody.

 

[Brennalee68]

It is common for the others to pick on a broody. I see it too in my flock. What is happening is, the rest of the flock that is not broody see her as something is wrong with her....she is growling at everybody, she is cluck cluck clucking at the others, she has a pale comb, she is acting weird as far as they are concerned...etc. And the flock thinks she is sick or disturbed. LOL They will stop picking on her when she stops being broody. 

 

[Brennalee68]

We have 20 chickens all the same age. Why has only one gone broody since she was 4 months old and none of the others have?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Genetics and hormones. Some breeds are more prone to be setters but there's often no rhyme or reason.
I've had broody breeds like Cochins and Orpingtons that never went broody in their lives and non-setters like Leghorns go broody a couple times a year. I have a big flock of Penedesenca with one that went broody this year. In the past I've had an entire flock go broody at once.
What breeds are yours?

 

[happymarsduck]

My black rock is 6 months old, she seems to be prone to broodiness, she lives with a columbine and a pied suffolk and they don't know what's going on. These are my first chickens and I have read and tried out lots of advice because I can't have a cockerel and I don't have room for any more chickens just now, I have a small garden. The first episode of broodiness was easy to break, she was staying in the nest box for hours after laying and when I opened it up she puffed up, I just lifted her out of the nest box every day and she stayed out and gave up after a few weeks - worth noting I could only lift her out on days that I wasn't at work or when my husband could do it, so some days she must have stayed in. This first time she went broody she was still roosting with the other chickens.

The second time she went broody was when she caught sight of another chickens egg that was layed late at night or first thing and we missed it and she snapped back into broodiness with avengeance and sat on this egg. This time she returned immediately to the nest box when removed to sit on nothing and was sleeping in the nest box at night, when we stopped her going into the coop she dug a nest in the run and sat on that, she pulled out her breast feathers and stopped eating and drinking completely, even ignoring meal worms. I tried dipping her into cool water but this had no effect, she didn't mind it, she is a very sweet chicken and good natured even when broody but it was straight back to nesting. She started to lose weight noticeably and I began to worry we could lose her. So I built an antibroody coop in the run and popped her in, hand fed her grapes and yogurt daily, left seed and water in the antibroody coop, kept her in there at night. She was a bit distressed at first which was hard to see, she wanted out, but she did settle down. I saw her shaking her head alot and was worried she might have mites from missing dust baths so I dusted her with mite treatment as a precaution. When she started to stand up and preen again and had a little seed and I thought she was behaving more chickeny, I let her out with the other chickens in her run. She ate some food and pecked around but as soon as I opened the main coop up she was straight back up into the nest box and puffed up again so it was back to the antibroody coop. A couple of nights later I noticed her behaviour, especially the sound of her clucking and her general interest in things around her, in food, in the neighbours cat, in my appearance with food for the others - it was much more normal and I let her out again. She did go back into the nest box but when I gave the others meal worms she heard the excitement and ran out to get some herself. Tonight she went in with the others at sun down and disappointingly went to the nest box but I lifted her from the box on to the roosting bars and she has stayed put...Hazzah! Hope this account of my broody BR might ring a bell with someone else and help. The other chickens seem really happy she is back.

 

[americanchicker]

I have 2 out of 4 broody right now. My silkie just broke broody but she is still sleeping in or outside nesting box only one lonely bird on the roost. But my one girls has been broody almost 2 months but she will come out for a bit during the day. I just had a baby I haven't had the time to devote to breaking her hut her comb is pale the nest boxes have DE in them tho

 

[troll1010]

I'm new to all this. I have 5 girls and I'm getting eggs but don't know who is laying them. How do I know if they r broody? And what does broody mean?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Broody means that hormones have kicked in to give them the desire to raise a family.
They'll sit in the nest around the clock, coming off about once a day to eat, drink, defecate, stretch and maybe even dust bathe. The idea is if they sit on eggs for 21 days, they'll have babies. They'll even sit if they don't have fertile eggs or any eggs at all. While broody, they won't lay eggs and won't commence laying until about a month or so after chicks hatch.

 

[troll1010]

Ok none of them r doing that. So I guess they r not Broodys! Can there eggs be Fertile even if they r not broody chickens?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Ok none of them r doing that. So I guess they r not Broodys! Can there eggs be Fertile even if they r not broody chickens?

Yes - eggs are fertilized before they are laid -- the action of a broody hen (or an incubator in the absence of a broody hen) is what triggers the development of a chick.