Broody Chickens?

[Vermont Poultry]

Hello, recently (last month or so) some of our chickens (7-8 months) are exhibiting broody behavior. Some of the chickens when they lay will just sit in the nesting boxes then lay an egg 30 minutes later, some times they will act like they are brooding only to lay an egg, and other times they act completely broody, but will not return to the nest if I take them off.

Today one of the GLW's tried going broody, but to my disappointment I went outside to see her walking around. But then I went inside the coop... She didn't get off of her nest, it was stolen from her. A couple of my Barred Rocks are like nest pirates, they will never sit in an empty nest, only one that another chicken is in, there are 5 nesting boxes, 4 will be available but the pirates still chose to steal another nest, and man are they loud when someone tries to steal their nest, sound like dinosaurs. The chicken who stole the nest then started acting broody, I picked her up and she just plopped back on the nest and shuffled around, then I placed her on the floor, she sat there and started putting bedding on her back, got back on the nest... But then I threw out corn and she couldn't resist, got off the nest to never return. The funny thing is the chickens don't get upset when I move them around on the nest, but as soon as they see a fellow chicken they go nuts.

My question is, will the broody chickens gain willpower over time after being on the nest, or will they be somewhat easily disturbed and not able to go the 21 day duration. If I want one of the Wyandottes to go broody I am gunna have to make a separate house unfortunately.

 

[aart]

They are not broody, they are just taking extra time on the nest.
Many birds will sit in nests for an extended time, some sit for awhile and then go back later to lay.
Some go in lay and are done and gone in less than 30 minutes.

Broody is when they are on the nest all day and night for 3 days.
Accompanied by other behaviors.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

They are not broody, they are just taking extra time on the nest.
Many birds will sit in nests for an extended time, some sit for awhile and then go back later to lay.
Some go in lay and are done and gone in less than 30 minutes.

Broody is when they are on the nest all day and night for 3 days.
Accompanied by other behaviors.

They do seem to be acting broody. They would shuffle the eggs and do this weird dance that they never do, and when I move them and place them on the ground they stay flat, which they also almost never do. I have read about peoples chickens going 'half broody' and over a longer period of time they resisted coming off the nest until they eventually just stay on it. Their body positioning is also significantly different, head closer to their body, arms out wide, back feathers puffed up.

 

[aart]

Quote: That is a broody behavior...
....some of mine are pretty flat when on the nest just to lay or lounge tho, and they will flare and scream, but I never take them out of nest.

 

[peeper89]

wait and leave alone see if they stay all time or just playin broody hen. nest box comfy so may b takin nap

 

[chickens really]

I agree with the information so far.....If you want her Broody? You will have to leave her alone for awhile...I take it you have a Rooster and your eggs are fertile...?

If you want chicks to hatch?...Move her to a nest with eggs you have collected separate from the other Birds so she will not be disturbed and let her set....I have mine in a metal dog crate in my garage...I open the cage door during the day so she can get off the nest to eat, drink and poop...She then goes back to setting....

Good luck....


Cheers!

 

[Vermont Poultry]

That is a broody behavior...
....some of mine are pretty flat when on the nest just to lay or lounge tho, and they will flare and scream, but I never take them out of nest.

I take them off the nest because I don't want the eggs that I eat to start developing, but I was curious as too why they want to sit on the eggs a lot more all the sudden. Where I live it is wayyy to cold right now to allow chicks to be hatched, so maybe in a few months I will let them stay on.

 

[aart]

Quote: It takes good 24 hours for a fertilized egg to start developing, in an incubator or under a broody hen....
......so I don't worry about them lounging in the nests during the day.

When you take a suspected broody hen out of the nest, put it on the floor/ground,
and it drops right down into a flattened position, that could well indicate that she is indeed broody.
As would staying in nest most the day(except eating/drinking/pooping) and all night.


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

I agree with the information so far.....If you want her Broody? You will have to leave her alone for awhile...I take it you have a Rooster and your eggs are fertile...?

If you want chicks to hatch?...Move her to a nest with eggs you have collected separate from the other Birds so she will not be disturbed and let her set....I have mine in a metal dog crate in my garage...I open the cage door during the day so she can get off the nest to eat, drink and poop...She then goes back to setting....

Good luck....

Cheers!

Thanks for the info, yeah I think I am going to have to wait and see. I wont let them hatch if they try for at least another month due to the cold.

 

[Vermont Poultry]

It takes good 24 hours for a fertilized egg to start developing, in an incubator or under a broody hen....
......so I don't worry about them lounging in the nests during the day.

When you take a suspected broody hen out of the nest, put it on the floor/ground,
and it drops right down into a flattened position, that could well indicate that she is indeed broody.
As would staying in nest most the day(except eating/drinking/pooping) and all night.


If you don't want her to hatch out chicks, best to break her broodiness promptly.
My experience went like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest, I put her in a wire dog crate with smaller wire on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop and I would feed her some crumble a couple times a day.

I let her out a couple times a day(you don't have to) and she would go out into the run, drop a huge turd, race around running, take a vigorous dust bath then head back to the nest... at which point I put her back in the crate. Each time her outings would lengthen a bit, eating, drinking and scratching more and on the 3rd afternoon she stayed out of the nest and went to roost that evening...event over, back to normal tho she didn't lay for another week or two.
Water nipple bottle added after pic was taken.

That's a dedicated chicken, its funny that they like to sit on nothing. I don't know if I will need to break their broodiness, but usually when I suspect broody behavior I place them on the ground, which is very cold, and they usually start building a nest were I put them down, but then walk off after a while. But I think broody chickens are cool, I do have a 2x2 Plywood box that I can use as a nest, used it before as a jail cell for a couple guineas haha.