Broody Golden Lace Polish

[MusiGal]

Hi, everyone! I haven't posted in a while,but I do much research on these boards all the time. I have a Golden Lace Polish that has gone broody. No doubt about it, she displays all the classic behaviors. However, we don't have a Rooster, so there will be no chicks. Is there any harm in letting her just go through her broody cycle or should I do my best to break it?

She's just over 14 months old, was a late bloomer when it came to laying, but has been a pretty steady layer. I discovered her last night laying in one of the nest boxes. I honestly thought something was wrong (I'm new to all this, still), so I was petting her and she let me. No noises or anything. This morning she was back to normal and came out with the rest of the flock. When I got home from work tonight, she was back in the box...still let me pet her with no noises or objections whatsoever. That's when the thought struck me that she might be broody. So I came to my trusty source, backyardchickens,com and she displayed none of the vocal signs. Someone suggested taking her off the nest, gathering the egg(s) and see if she runs right back on. So I went out and picked her up off the nest without so much as a peep from her and sure enough, she had one of her eggs underneath. I held her for a little while and seemed to like that, but then I needed to put her down, so I did and she ran outside with the other hens and I "freshened" up the nest boxes with more shavings. While I was doing that she ran back into the run where the coop is and ran to the food and ate a little. I brought the other hens in with some meal worms and she devoured those. They all went back out and I left to go towards the house..they all followed me, including her. Once we were all by the house away from the coop, I turned around and she's running back to the coop and sure enough jumped back into the nest box. I went to see how she was and this time, upon opening the nest box, she fluffed all up and squealed at me like a Samauri wrestler. When I tried to pet her, she pecked my hand. I discovered she doesn't peck nearly as hard as the other four hens! Anyhow, it's now dark all then hens have put themselves to roost, so I went to check on her one more time and she's still in the nest quieted down and is now letting me pet her again.

Funny creatures, aren't they? I know this is quite the narrative, I apologize, that's how I roll. However, back to my original question and that is...Is there any harm in letting her just go through her broody cycle or should I do my best to break it? How best to break it? I'm not home during the day and I let my hens free-range our backyard while I'm at work.

Thanks, everyone!!

 

[Farmer Viola]

It does sound like she's broody! It's normal for her to get off the nest to eat, drink and dust bathe daily even while broody.

If you want to break her of her broodyness, you have to separate her from her nest. Giving her a dark, warm, soft place is going to encourage her to sit. So by contrast, if you place her in a wire cage with no bottom and no nesting material, she will be broken of her broodyness in a few days. Look up the "broody breaker" method. Essentially the cool air movement around her underside will knock her out of it. Could be a few days, could be a week.

There isn't much harm in her sitting on non-fertile eggs, I guess. As long as she gets up to eat and maintains herself, her body is built for this. They will lose weight during the brood though, and will have to bulk up again afterwards. She will also not lay eggs while she is broody, so that is the main reason people like to break hens of broody behavior. If she were raising chicks, she might also not lay eggs for a few weeks after they hatch while she raises them.

Another alternative you have is to buy some fertile eggs for her locally. I don't recommend shipping eggs! Very low hatch rate. But if you can find any sellers locally, you could put 6-8 eggs under her and let her actually try. Not every broody hen is destined to be a mother. Sometimes they give up before the full 21 days, sometimes they don't mother the chicks. Every hen has to be treated individually and trust has to be earned.

I have a broody on day 5 right now, her first clutch I am hoping she stays on and turns into a good mother!

 

[MusiGal]

She is definitely broody...AND moody. OMG! She displays a lot of the "normal" broody signs, but then she steers off the beaten path...daily. She'll come out of the nest box to eat & drink...the other chickens are out of the run by then and are free grazing in my backyard, so she comes out and joins them (sort of) for an hour or so and then heads back in to the run and onto the nest. Then later on in the afternoon, she'll do it again...that's when I can get any eggs that she may be hoarding. She's always been my peculiar chicken...but that's exactly what I loved about her. We lost her best friend (only friend) in the flock, a Buff Orpington we'd named Scarlett, back on June 1st and this happened about a week to ten days after that. I'm sure there's no connection. Anyhow, for now I'm letting her just go through the cycle and see what happens.

That's so exciting that you have one that may turn out to be a mama hen. I have a very small flock, down to five since Scarlett passed, so perhaps next season we'll try adding to the flock and see where it goes. Hope you get your new chicks!!

 

[Farmer Viola]

She is definitely broody...AND moody. OMG! She displays a lot of the "normal" broody signs, but then she steers off the beaten path...daily. She'll come out of the nest box to eat & drink...the other chickens are out of the run by then and are free grazing in my backyard, so she comes out and joins them (sort of) for an hour or so and then heads back in to the run and onto the nest. Then later on in the afternoon, she'll do it again...that's when I can get any eggs that she may be hoarding. She's always been my peculiar chicken...but that's exactly what I loved about her. We lost her best friend (only friend) in the flock, a Buff Orpington we'd named Scarlett, back on June 1st and this happened about a week to ten days after that. I'm sure there's no connection. Anyhow, for now I'm letting her just go through the cycle and see what happens.

That's so exciting that you have one that may turn out to be a mama hen. I have a very small flock, down to five since Scarlett passed, so perhaps next season we'll try adding to the flock and see where it goes. Hope you get your new chicks!!

ooh thank you! did you ever get your gal some fertile eggs, or are you just letting her "practice" on them?

I think today is day 12? for my broody Black Copper Marans. and guess what. ANOTHER hen went broody too! I only have 6 hens, we get 3-6 eggs a day, so now we're down to 4 laying. I had to buy eggs yesterday! the 2nd broody is also a BCM. she has only been sitting for... 3 days I think. so we will have chicks in about 9 days, and again in a couple weeks. I will be sure to post pictures. I am interested to see what kind of mothers they make. I hope they do well