Broody Hens

[Payturpin]

Hello all! I have a flock of 5 hens. Lately one hen at a time has gone broody. Won’t leave the coop for days, only comes out to eat, very hostile when in the coop. All of which appears to be normal brooding behavior (in my limited knowledge) but now I have THREE hens that won’t leave the coop. Is it possible they’re all 3 brooding? Sorry if my verbiage isn’t quite 100%, I’m still fairly new to the flock game. Any and all advice appreciated! Thanks in advance.

 

[Bird fanatic]

Hello all! I have a flock of 5 hens. Lately one hen at a time has gone broody. Won’t leave the coop for days, only comes out to eat, very hostile when in the coop. All of which appears to be normal brooding behavior (in my limited knowledge) but now I have THREE hens that won’t leave the coop. Is it possible they’re all 3 brooding? Sorry if my verbiage isn’t quite 100%, I’m still fairly new to the flock game. Any and all advice appreciated! Thanks in advance.

yes it is most likely that all three are broody and your others could go broody too. do you want them to be broody are you planning to have them hatch fertilized eggs

 

[sourland]

Yes, it is very possible that all are broody.

 

[rosemarythyme]

Broodiness can be contagious, so looks like it's spreading...

 

[aart]

Here's my go-to signs of a broody:
Is she on nest most the day and all night?
When you pull her out of nest and put her on the ground, does 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 you don't want her to hatch out chicks, IMO it's best to break her broodiness promptly.

My experience goes about like this: After her setting for 3 days and nights in the nest (or as soon as I know they are broody), I put her in a wire dog crate (24"L x 18"W x 21"H) with smaller wire(1x2) on the bottom but no bedding, set up on a couple of 4x4's right in the coop or run with feed and water.

After 48 hours I let her out of crate very near roosting time(30-60 mins) if she goes to roost great, if she goes to nest put her back in crate for another 48 hours.

Tho not necessary a chunk of 2x4 for a 'roost' was added to crate floor, gives the feet a break from the wire floor and encourages roosting.

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