Broody Hen Thread!

[irishsilkie]

Is there any way to make a hen go broody?

Yes I believe a proven way of inducing broodiness is all about getting the hen to produce the hormone prolactin this can be done by feeding your chickens just bananas nothing else as this will disrupt the hormonal flow during this phase of a week you should also pluck out her chest feathers as if she's broody and place these feathers in the nest to put the sent on the nest you should also give your chickens milk to drink instead of water as this will help them absorb calsium for broodiness which can also be obtained in oyster shell , the best way to make them drink the milk is to remove the water so they must drink the milk, you should also place eggs in a nest ready for her to brood and cover these eggs with apple juice to give the hen a soothing smell encouraging her to sit, once she's laying you should get a scissors and cut off her tail for some reason these increases the production of the hormone prolactin encouraging broodiness, this complicated method takes about 8hours to work and can be done with any breed apart from hybrids with a 80-90% success rate of broodiness after 2 days, good luck keep us updated!

 

[PD-Riverman]

Yes I believe a proven way of inducing broodiness is all about getting the hen to produce the hormone prolactin this can be done by feeding your chickens just bananas nothing else as this will disrupt the hormonal flow during this phase of a week you should also pluck out her chest feathers as if she's broody and place these feathers in the nest to put the sent on the nest you should also give your chickens milk to drink instead of water as this will help them absorb calsium for broodiness which can also be obtained in oyster shell , the best way to make them drink the milk is to remove the water so they must drink the milk, you should also place eggs in a nest ready for her to brood and cover these eggs with apple juice to give the hen a soothing smell encouraging her to sit, once she's laying you should get a scissors and cut off her tail for some reason these increases the production of the hormone prolactin encouraging broodiness, this complicated method takes about 8hours to work and can be done with any breed apart from hybrids with a 80-90% success rate of broodiness after 2 days, good luck keep us updated!

LOL. well I kept waiting for the "punch", but I found out you were serious at the end. I never tried it so for sure can not comment either way. I do know a nest of eggs(fake will be fine) left can help with some hens.

 

[nchls school]

Is there any way to make a hen go broody?

I have had excellent luck with my hens going broody. If you haven't, consider trying this. If your hen has a nest to herself, leave the eggs or replace them with a dummy egg, one at a time, as fresh eggs are laid. With a communal nest, put one dummy egg in the nest each day as you collect the fresh eggs. I have silkies and serama. This method has never failed to produce a broody hen. At the moment I have four hens brooding eggs and one with chicks.[

 

[Island Juli]

Silkies, gotta love them! I had one go broody on the 12th. 6 eggs under her, 3 silkie and 3 barnyard mixes. On the the 14th, her sister joined her in sitting. Of course they are in the one box everyone loves to lay in, so I have to go down several times a day and remove new eggs (I marked the original 6).

Today, I go down to remove eggs and check on them and their other sister has joined them! So now I have 3 sisters sitting on the 6 eggs. At least they'll have lots of momma's to take care of them! There is one more sister, but she seems more interested in hanging out with the silkie rooster, so hopefully all 4 won't try to squeeze into the nest box.

Problem is, even with gloves on they are pecking and twisting my arms so hard, I know one I got today is going to bruise! Ugh!!! I know they are just being protective, but darn it, those peck and twists hurt like heck!! I could pick them up and move them off the nest for a bit, but I really don't want to disturb them too much.

The next joy will come right before they are due to hatch, I guess. I need to move them, they are 3 feet up and with all 2 or 3 mommas in there, there will be no room for food and water and room for the chicks to move around. I have a brooder coop set up for them, just unsure when to move. They are not quite a week in, so I was figuring if I wait until around the first of May I won't break the brood.

 

[16 paws]

Yes I believe a proven way of inducing broodiness is all about getting the hen to produce the hormone prolactin this can be done by feeding your chickens just bananas nothing else as this will disrupt the hormonal flow during this phase of a week you should also pluck out her chest feathers as if she's broody and place these feathers in the nest to put the sent on the nest you should also give your chickens milk to drink instead of water as this will help them absorb calsium for broodiness which can also be obtained in oyster shell , the best way to make them drink the milk is to remove the water so they must drink the milk, you should also place eggs in a nest ready for her to brood and cover these eggs with apple juice to give the hen a soothing smell encouraging her to sit, once she's laying you should get a scissors and cut off her tail for some reason these increases the production of the hormone prolactin encouraging broodiness, this complicated method takes about 8hours to work and can be done with any breed apart from hybrids with a 80-90% success rate of broodiness after 2 days, good luck keep us updated!

Is this a joke?

 

[katatonic123]

Funny story...apparently PJ has decided that sine Di and DiDi are broody she needs to be too. I was gathering eggs and I just rolled them out of each nest and into a pile on the floor so I could gather them all together after I checked on the chicks DiDi has. I'm checking babies and look up and there is PJ half out of her nest rolling eggs out of my pile to put back under herself. Silly bird. Don't they know coops have a limit and I'm already technically over said limit?!

 

[Peep Nerd]

So, I have a sweet little bantam Cochin sitting on a few eggs. One day she got off the nest and couldn't get back on for a few hours. The eggs got cold. When I realized she was stuck off the nest I helped her back on and fixed the problem. She has been faithfully sitting ever since. Monday is day 21. If the eggs don't hatch (due to my mistake, sadly) can I give her new eggs to sit on or is it unhealthy for her to be broody for so long?

 

[fisherlady]

Yes I believe a proven way of inducing broodiness is all about getting the hen to produce the hormone prolactin this can be done by feeding your chickens just bananas nothing else as this will disrupt the hormonal flow during this phase of a week you should also pluck out her chest feathers as if she's broody and place these feathers in the nest to put the sent on the nest you should also give your chickens milk to drink instead of water as this will help them absorb calsium for broodiness which can also be obtained in oyster shell , the best way to make them drink the milk is to remove the water so they must drink the milk, you should also place eggs in a nest ready for her to brood and cover these eggs with apple juice to give the hen a soothing smell encouraging her to sit, once she's laying you should get a scissors and cut off her tail for some reason these increases the production of the hormone prolactin encouraging broodiness, this complicated method takes about 8hours to work and can be done with any breed apart from hybrids with a 80-90% success rate of broodiness after 2 days, good luck keep us updated!

Irishsilkie, a few days ago you asked if golf balls would encourage a broody, then you asked about placing them into a bucket.... and now you are claiming a variety of very odd sounding methods which are 'proven' to work....
I will ask that you provide a list of your sources.
Have you personally used any of these methods?

We try to be as helpful as possible on this thread, but are careful to provide information based on personal experience or well researched materials.

 

[fisherlady]

So, I have a sweet little bantam Cochin sitting on a few eggs. One day she got off the nest and couldn't get back on for a few hours. The eggs got cold. When I realized she was stuck off the nest I helped her back on and fixed the problem. She has been faithfully sitting ever since. Monday is day 21. If the eggs don't hatch (due to my mistake, sadly) can I give her new eggs to sit on or is it unhealthy for her to be broody for so long?

It is amazing how resilient those little eggs can be, so don't give up hope yet. They may be delayed by half a day or so though, from being cooled.

Deciding to give her more eggs should be done based on her physical condition, hens can sometimes brood for quite an extended period but it can be very, very hard on them without extra care being taken to ensure her well being. First off, you have to examine her....is her body weight good, is her keel bone prominent, are her eyes bright and alert or is she dull looking and lethargic? Have you checked her for mites or lice? If she is in poor condition then she shouldn't brood for an extended time at all.
If you think she still seems ok then you should reset her immediately, re-evaluate her condition each week, provide her some bolstering type foods such as scrambled eggs or boiled or baked fish, use meal worms and hulled sunflower chips as an addition to her scratch and keep track that she is drinking her water.
Brooding is hard on hens, extended broods are harder but do-able with a bit of TLC.

 

[Peep Nerd]

Thank you! I will let you know how it goes.