Hens go broody when THEY decide it is time, and it is usually the MOST inconvenient time for YOU! A couple of years ago when I was just getting into chickens, I had two hens who decided to go broody in December. I was planning on breaking them, but didn't have a cage to set them up in, so I kept putting off getting it done. I figured the eggs weren't viable anyway because I would go to the hen house and find the broodies setting on the wrong eggs all the time (this is Texas, but even here in December it can get pretty cold). I would take the new eggs out and put their eggs back under them. I had the plan to set them up in a cage the day after Christmas that year. The temperatures at the time were high teens at night, probably in the 30's during the day. Went out on the 26th of December, and hear little peeps under the momma. We were TOTALLY not prepared for new chicks since I was so sure they weren't viable. Guess who had two mommas and their chicks in the bathtub for a week until we would prepare them a nursery coop outside! That was my first broody experience, and since them I have become in awe of what a momma hen can do to get her chicks raised up. I let them set on eggs whatever time of year they want, figuring momma knows best. Of course, my opinion might be different if I lived farther north.
