Broody Hen Thread!

[PD-Riverman]

Hi All!
I had a question I am hoping some experienced broody hen people can answer! I have a bantam cochin that has been broody most of the summer and hatched some chicks. She just finished her broody cycle(no eggs to hatch this time) about 2 weeks ago. My question is when or will she grow back in those breast and belly feathers she plucked out when she was broody? If so, how long typically does it take(assuming she doesn't go broody AGAIN LOL!) Thanks so much for any info

I am sure it will take some time for the feathers to grow back. I got a question-----why let the hen go through a broody cycle with no eggs under her? If I do not want the hen to set/stay broody---I break her instead of letting her set for weeks. I might have one--one day that I can not break, but so far in 50+ years I have broke everyone I tried to break. The way I look at it is------I want my hens hatching chicks or laying eggs not setting for weeks at the time doing neither------BUT as I say---They are your chickens and you for sure can raise them any way you want!! I am just Curious with the question?!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

I am sure it will take some time for the feathers to grow back. I got a question-----why let the hen go through a broody cycle with no eggs under her? If I do not want the hen to set/stay broody---I break her instead of letting her set for weeks. I might have one--one day that I can not break, but so far in 50+ years I have broke everyone I tried to break. The way I look at it is------I want my hens hatching chicks or laying eggs not setting for weeks at the time doing neither------BUT as I say---They are your chickens and you for sure can raise them any way you want!! I am just Curious with the question?!

X 2 - if she's not going to be actively setting a clutch, it is in my best interest and, imo, the birds, to break the broodiness as early as possible vs. allowing her to go through the entire process (which is actually fairly difficult on the bird) for nothing.

 

[A6chickenhome]

Does anyone know if you can actually break the broody cycle when you put them on a wire surface so they don't squat down or is it just hat they would come out of the broodiness at ,that time anyway?

 

[A6chickenhome]

Also, my hen isn't yet a year old and this is her 2nd bout with broodiness. She is a really good brooder, very stubborn, and I want to preserve her desire to hatch eggs. If I break her broody cycle will she become less committed to sitting on her eggs in the future?

 

[Blooie]

Does anyone know if you can actually break the broody cycle when you put them on a wire surface so they don't squat down or is it just hat they would come out of the broodiness at ,that time anyway?

I'm not sure I understand your question. Squatting is a behavior that hens exhibit as a "submissive" sign that they are ready for mating. They do this when the rooster mounts, and if there is no rooster they do it if you walk near them or bend over to touch them. (Sure makes it easier to catch them! teehee) Squatting is one of the signs that they are ready to begin laying, along with redder wattles and combs. Squatting itself doesn't indicate that a chicken is broody so putting them on a wire surface won't stop squatting. The first indicator of broodiness is when they won't get off the nest because they are ready to sit on a clutch of eggs.

 

[A6chickenhome]

I'm not sure I understand your question.  Squatting is a behavior that hens exhibit as a "submissive" sign that they are ready for mating.  They do this when the rooster mounts, and if there is no rooster they do it if you walk near them or bend over to touch them.  (Sure makes it easier to catch them!  teehee)  Squatting is one of the signs that they are ready to begin laying, along with redder wattles and combs.  Squatting itself doesn't indicate that a chicken is broody so putting them on a wire surface won't stop squatting. The first indicator of broodiness is when they won't get off the nest because they are ready to sit on a clutch of eggs.

I guess squatting isn't the adjective I'm looking for. My hen has been brooding some unfertalized eggs, I've given her, for about 3 weeks. I was expecting to purchase some fertilized eggs last week from a gal in my area until she related that her hens had stopped laying. I've heard that if you put a hen in a cage with a wire bottom that she won't lay(squatt) down and it breaks the broody cycle. My question is: does this method actually influence a hormonal change in the hen and break the broodiness, or, if you have to say keep the hen in the cage for a couple of weeks would the hen naturally come out of the broodiness after that much time? I'm also worried that,if i keep doing something like that every time she goes broody, it would discourage her and make her less dependable to brood in the future. Thanks for responding.

 

[jajeanpierre]

Also, my hen isn't yet a year old and this is her 2nd bout with broodiness. She is a really good brooder, very stubborn, and I want to preserve her desire to hatch eggs. If I break her broody cycle will she become less committed to sitting on her eggs in the future?

Broodiness is a hormonal condition. It isn't something you have a lot of control over. When you "break" a hen from being broody, you basically stress her so that she abandons a nest. Think of it like a wild bird that leaves a nest they are sitting on because you got too close. You won't stop the wild bird's instinct to raise a clutch just because you bothered her to the point of her abandoning her nest.

The natural reproductive cycle of chickens has been really messed up by breeding. Nowhere in the wild do birds lay eggs outside of breeding season. They do not lay throughout the year. Even in the tropics they lay based on a season (wet/dry). Chickens have been bred to lay all the time. Chickens that lay a lot of eggs reproduce and pass on their genetic traits, including laying, while chickens that don't lay a lot of eggs end up in a pot. That is how broodiness was bred out of egg-laying breeds. Hens that went broody were culled.

 

[jajeanpierre]

I guess squatting isn't the adjective I'm looking for. My hen has been brooding some unfertalized eggs, I've given her, for about 3 weeks. I was expecting to purchase some fertilized eggs last week from a gal in my area until she related that her hens had stopped laying. I've heard that if you put a hen in a cage with a wire bottom that she won't lay(squatt) down and it breaks the broody cycle. My question is: does this method actually influence a hormonal change in the hen and break the broodiness, or, if you have to say keep the hen in the cage for a couple of weeks would the hen naturally come out of the broodiness after that much time? I'm also worried that,if i keep doing something like that every time she goes broody, it would discourage her and make her less dependable to brood in the future. Thanks for responding.

You can break a broody by simply changing their pens. If they stay broody, move them again. Broodiness is not something the hen really chooses.

 

[calichicken]

I am sure it will take some time for the feathers to grow back. I got a question-----why let the hen go through a broody cycle with no eggs under her? If I do not want the hen to set/stay broody---I break her instead of letting her set for weeks. I might have one--one day that I can not break, but so far in 50+ years I have broke everyone I tried to break. The way I look at it is------I want my hens hatching chicks or laying eggs not setting for weeks at the time doing neither------BUT as I say---They are your chickens and you for sure can raise them any way you want!! I am just Curious with the question?!

X 2 - if she's not going to be actively setting a clutch, it is in my best interest and, imo, the birds, to break the broodiness as early as possible vs. allowing her to go through the entire process (which is actually fairly difficult on the bird) for nothing.

For our family, we have a pair of bantam hens that are pets for us, eggs are a bonus but not really important to us. I have in the past discouraged her from being broody...which works for a few weeks and then she goes right back to being broody

When I let her go through her broody stage, I make sure she is getting up, eating, drinking, dusting and exercising to stay healthy. I have found with this stubborn one that once she goes through the cycle, she will not go broody again for months as opposed to trying again to go broody again in a few weeks...so I feel that works best for her. She never sits more than the 3 weeks and has quit as early as 2 weeks. So far she has remained healthy

If at anytime this becomes unhealthy for her, then I will definitely have to rethink the approach for sure!

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

Came home yesterday afternoon to find Ms. Broody in the wrong nest. Not sure if she just got "lost" coming back from a break (she was one nest box over from her eggs) or if someone was in her nest when she came back (no extra eggs so if they were there they didn't stay to lay) or if something else happened, but she was in the wrong place. I haven't seen any of the other hens even THINK about bothering her since she went broody because she puts up such a good bluff - but have seen one opportunist hop in while she was on a break and leave their egg with the clutch. I don't know how long she had been in the wrong place, eggs were definitely cool to the touch. I picked her up and moved her to the right box where she promptly settled right back in, but not so sure about the outlook for the hatch at this point. I am taking the approach of just letting her ride it out and see what happens.