Broody hens?

[Bigwig]

On average, how many hens out of twenty should go broody each year? I have twenty hens and I am lucky to have two go broody per year. A fellow chicken farmer who lives near me keeps between 20-30 hens and has 3-6 of his hens go broody just in spring and early summer! How can I get more of my hens to go broody? I keep ameraucanas, speckled sussex, barred rocks, RIR-Columbian Rock crosses, and EEs. My friend keeps the same along with cochins and black stars.

 

[Chicken Girl1]

I'm so jealous!! I have 17 hens and I haven't had a broody hen 3-4 years!

 

[nchls school]

On average, how many hens out of twenty should go broody each year? I have twenty hens and I am lucky to have two go broody per year. A fellow chicken farmer who lives near me keeps between 20-30 hens and has 3-6 of his hens go broody just in spring and early summer! How can I get more of my hens to go broody? I keep ameraucanas, speckled sussex, barred rocks, RIR-Columbian Rock crosses, and EEs. My friend keeps the same along with cochins and black stars.  

This year, like the two years before that, all of my hens have gone broody multiple times. I only have a few but I'm fairly sure it will work for you too. I used this method recently with four hens; two silkies, one mutt crossbreed, and a serama. Within two weeks the serama, one silkie, and the mutt have started to brood. The other silkie has six eggs today and will go broody in another week when she has 10-12 eggs. Here is what I do-If I want a broody fast I put a hen that is laying in a good sized pen with a nest box. When she lays I leave the eggs in the nest. When there is app 12 eggs the hen will go broody. The pen needs to be as big as possible. Sometimes I replace the eggs with dummy eggs if I have use for the real ones; one egg for each egg that is laid. Giving a hen a nest full of eggs will not make her broody; the nest has to gradually fill as the hen lays.

A similar method can be used in the coop with a whole flock. Each day as you collect the eggs put ONE dummy egg in the nest where you want a broody (you might end up having more than one hen go broody doing this). When the clutch is complete the hens will go broody that are using that nesting site. In a coop setting do not leave real eggs as they might get broken leading to egg-eating.

Some people believe broodiness is caused by a hormonal change and that is right, but it is the presence of eggs that cause the hormonal change. Hormonal changes do not happen overnight and that's why giving a laying hen a nest full of egg immediately doesn't work. The build up of a clutch has to be gradual.

Keep in mind that many breeds no longer have the broody instinct and will not brood no matter what you do. Also, clutch size varies. My serama went broody after laying just six eggs. Chicken clutch size usually is more than that; 10-15 eggs being way more common than 6. You have a varied flock. Try the coop method and see what happens. Please post the results. Good luck.

 

[Bigwig]

Thanks!!

 

[song of joy]

Some breeds are notorious for going broody, including silkies and cochins. RIR, EE and barred rocks don't tend to go broody, but there are exceptions. I've had RIR, EE, barred rocks, and black australorps for several years. The black australorp is the only one that reliably goes broody a couple times each year. You may want to add some breeds that tend to go broody to your flock, but realize that it's really up to the hen.