I currently have two broody hens (5 & 6 months old) and two broody ducks (4 months old) but mine are all free range I've read that free range chickens lay earlier, which is true, all breeds of mine started laying at 4 months, and go broody more, which also seems to be true.
I learned from past broodies, who didn't make it, to isolate them with their nest. I lost my first two broodies this spring. One laid in an old abandoned barn practically in the woods and even though I moved her nest and eggs to the coop she kept running back to the barn and finally got killed by a predator. The second broody was broody at the same time but laid her nest in the coop in one of the favorite nest boxes. As everyone came and went from the coop she would really freak out and puff up and squawk and wouldn't leave the nest. This went on for over a month. Toward the end she wasn't looking too good so I started watching her carefully to see if she was leaving the nest to eat and drink. She was leaving the nest briefly but wobbling to a place to sit and would not eat or drink no matter what I tried. She eventually left the nest, went to top roost to sleep and fell over dead.
Better experiences this time around. One broody has her nest in my laundry room in outside building. She has been setting for close to 21 days and seems to be giving up on her nest. She has broken and eaten all but 4 of the 10 eggs in her nest. She originally had 3 or 4 eggs when I found her but I slipped more under her. Lately I've been finding broken rotten eggs in her nest and having to clean them all up. I finally candled her eggs last night and the remaining 4 look dead so I had an egg pipping in my bator and put that under her last night even though she had not sat on her nest all day yesterday that I could tell. I waited to see what she would do. I was hoping she would set it and at least end up with one little baby after all that time. She did get back on nest. I just checked on her and the eggs are cold and she is not on nest. I checked the pipping egg and it is still alive, thank goodness, but when it peeped she went over to it and started pecking really hard at it and had it bleeding so I've just put it back in bator. I'm guessing her broodiness is over so I'm going to put her back with flock and finally clean up my poopy laundry room.
The other little broody went broody in coop, in same favorite nest box and the other bigger and older hens would come and hen peck her to make her move. So I put her and some of the eggs, plus a couple more, in a cage on floor of coop. She will NOT get off the nest to eat or drink that I can tell so I'm having to put the food on the ground right in front of her face and she will eat without getting up - same with the water but I've yet to see her drink but it's right there where she won't have to move. I haven't candled her eggs so I don't know how they are doing.
The duck seems to be doing great however and her eggs should start hatching today or tomorrow however she keeps getting more and more eggs in her nest and keeps burying part of the nest and setting on a new part - keeps digging, burying. Last time I checked when she briefly got off nest there were over 40 eggs. I only have 2 Rouens and 2 Mallards and one of the mallards has her own nest in another place and it has over 10 eggs in it. They lay different color eggs, Mallard's are green and Rouen's are white so I'm guessing that though the Rouen is setting she must still be laying and she is stealing eggs that the other two are laying in duck house because I see eggs on floor and suddenly they are in her nest. Not sure if any are going to hatch since there are so many and she can't cover them all and some are way at bottom of hole.
Well....this gives you all more than you ever wanted to know about broodies but thought others might could learn from my experiences. So far, no broody has hatched anything and all eggs are fertile.
