Broody Hen..how often can she sit and hatch?

[flyweed]

Hi all

We have a very broody hen, and she just successfully sat on and hatched out 5 chicks. We pulled the chicks, as we sell them locally. How often WOULD she sit on a new batch of fertile eggs to hatch out for us? Should we give her a week off at a time, or ????

Any help would be great.

Dan

 

[centrarchid]

I would give a hen at least 2 weeks to recondition. Mine generally require two weeks to get weight back up for resumption of laying and an additional two weeks of laying before becoming broody again. When allowed to go through natural broody cycles my most productive hens can go through 4 production cycles in a year if first starts in late winter and nutrition good enough to lay through hard part of molt. Laying during molt is not good for feather quality.