Broody Hen?

[Blue Eager]

Do hens typically wait until a certain amount of eggs are laid before going broody or is it simply random?

Thank you.

 

[aart]

Leaving eggs out might 'make' them go broody....but it seems wasteful to me.
If they are gonna go broody, they'll do it with eggs or without.
I wait until I see these signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, doesn't she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

 

[Blue Eager]

Great tips. Thank you aart.

 

[Gigirunr]

Leaving eggs out might 'make' them go broody....but it seems wasteful to me.
If they are gonna go broody, they'll do it with eggs or without.
I wait until I see these signs:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, doesn't she flatten right back out into a fluffy screeching pancake?
Does she walk around making a low cluckcluckcluckcluckcluck(ticking bomb) sound on her way back to the nest?
If so, then she is probably broody and you'll have to decide how to manage it.

If I have a broody hen, is there a way to slip in day old baby chicks for her to raise? I want some Easter edgers and she is a golden laced Wyandotte

 

[Alaskan]

@Gigirunr

Depends completely on the broody

Some will seriously mother ANYTHING.

With a good broody I sit down quietly next to the hen, box of chicks covered with a kitch towel on my lap.

I take a chick, hide it in my hand, put my hand under the broody, release the chick.

Repeat until all chicks are under mom.

Sit for 20 more minutes to make sure all are happy together, then leave.

If I am not sure about the broody... I do the same but only take out 3, of A SELECTION OF COLORS (because some will imprint on the first colors they see, and not take any different colors and patterns from the first set you give them).

Anyway... so take out 3, hidden under my shirt, sneak them under the hen, and sit there with a book for an hour to make sure everything is good.

If it is good after an hour... I bring out the rest.