Broody Hen HELP!!!

[ShaylaFox]

I have a flock at my house which is made up of four golden sex link hens, who are breed to lay eggs, and not go broody. Along with one golden sex link rooster, and 5 pullets. I knew the hens would not set on the eggs so I bought an incubator. The first hatch was amazing, but the second was BAD.... 14 out of 33 hatched. None of my chicks die if they hatch out of the egg. My sister has chickens at her grandma's, her chickens are mostly pets. Don't get me wrong I love all of my hens, but I expect them to lay eggs or they will go to the crook pot. Her hens are broody, they have cochin and other breeds in them. SOOO I traded one of my chicks for a broody hen. The hen they traded with me is cochin/and some asian breed. She does not lay every day like my hens, her eggs are VERY small and white. I thought she just needed time to get comfortable. But I have noticed that she HATES my rooster. Mama San (the hen) will run away from him like her life depends on it. He usually does not chase her down often. I know he does breed with her though, I eat her eggs and sell my golden sex link hen's eggs, I see the blastoderm when my dad cooks them. She is not a dominate hen so i first put her in with my pullets who where at that time separated from the older hens her back was torn up. Mama San did not have ONE tiny little feather on her back. I bought her a back protecter and the feathers have already begun to grow back. She bonded with the pullets. She became there mother and stays with them now that they are turned out with the other hens. The two groups stay away from each other, they are allowed to free range. She has hatched out eggs before, so i know she has the instinct and is old enough. I leave three fake eggs in every one of my nest boxes (snake problems) I was hoping that would trigger her, but it didn't. I have had her for about 3 weeks now. She is eating and drinking fine. Its a cool summer here so the weather is perfect. She even roosts near the pullets. The woman i got the 4 hens and the rooster from clipped the wings because she kept them in a pen. The roost lets Mama San and her adopted pullets to get way from the other hens and sleep peacefully. The other hens cant fly very high, and dont like to roost up on the stand.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

So your question is - how to make her broody?

You can't. They just have to get the urge to raise a family when the hormones are right.

 

[ShaylaFox]

So your question is - how to make her broody?

You can't. They just have to get the urge to raise a family when the hormones are right.

What i am asking in an unclear way is: are my older hens who are still picking on Mama San responsible for her not going broody

 

[ChickenCanoe]

Possibly or the stress of moving to a new location. It's a hormonal change and I imagine if they feel the environment is right to raise a family that will contribute.

At least you've started with a breed with setting tendencies and you said she was broody before. Sometimes it's the time of year. Many breeds with a tendency to set will do so in the spring or early summer. Some will only do it once a year and it's out of their system. It really takes a lot out of them to go into a trance for 3 weeks only emerging once a day to eat, drink, stretch, and defecate. They're pretty run down after a bout of broodiness.

 

[ShaylaFox]

Possibly or the stress of moving to a new location. It's a hormonal change and I imagine if they feel the environment is right to raise a family that will contribute.

At least you've started with a breed with setting tendencies and you said she was broody before. Sometimes it's the time of year. Many breeds with a tendency to set will do so in the spring or early summer. Some will only do it once a year and it's out of their system. It really takes a lot out of them to go into a trance for 3 weeks only emerging once a day to eat, drink, stretch, and defecate. They're pretty run down after a bout of broodiness.

It has been a while since she was broody. Should I separate her or would that cause more stress. She has grown use to being let free every day, and has become attached to the younger pullets.

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I would let her and her friends integrate into the flock. None of that will change whether she wants to be broody or not.

 

[Outpost JWB]

All the advise given by ChickenCanoe is good

. We have hatched out many chicks from the incubator and also had 3 broody hens. Springtime is generally when they go broody. The rest of the year, they are laying hens. The 1st broody hen (australorp) had an egg bust under her at 19 days, I think it contaminated the other 9, none hatched. The 2nd broody hen (New Hampshire) was a quitter, She sat on the eggs for a little over a week, then just quit. I tried everything to get her to save the eggs, but she had nothing to do with it. The 3rd (Dominique) hatched out 3 out of 5. The eggs put under her were actually eggs from some of the 10 hens we lost to raccoons this year...so their legacy lives on. Good luck to you. It's all up to the hen. You got to let nature take it's course. I also would like to add that you mentioned she is part cochin. We had a partridge cochin. Great hen but did not lay as many eggs as the other hens. She also hated the roosters. She too would scream bloody murder when they tried to get her. Its part of their breed.

 

[ShaylaFox]

Thanks you all for the advice. Some times I would get in between the Mama San and the rooster, pick her up and put her on the roost where he does not go. I just fell sorry for her, and I did not get her for egg laying,