Broody, Production Hen.

[SulkyBantam]

You are welcome!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Broody hens are not productive. They don't lay eggs and require special handling, so most broody hens are removed from the breeding flock with production breeds. After a few generations you get a flock where hens don't often go broody. On the other hand, if you hatch eggs from a hen that goes broody her daughters often will. You can control that with breeding. I managed to breed a flock where every hen went broody at least once a year, many of them multiple times. It was too much, they spend more time in the broody buster than laying eggs.

Your production hens won't go broody often, though occasionally one will. But I sure wouldn't count in it, it is really unlikely. Brahma and Black Australorp will sometimes go broody. A rooster does not go broody himself but he can pass on the genetics if he has them. If you can get pullets from that cross they have a better chance of going broody than their mothers. I'd still consider it a low chance so not a lot of realistic hope there, but at least better.

I've read different theories on how to make a hen go broody. One is to let the eggs (real of fake) stack up in a nest. The thought is that once a hen sees a large bunch of eggs she'll go broody. I've tried that a few times in a flock where some of the hens do occasionally go broody and it never worked.

It's been a lot of years since I read this one. Somebody said if you lock a hen in a very dark nest for two of three days she will go broody. I never tried that, it seemed too cruel and inhumane. So I can't say for sure it doesn't work but I'd have serious doubts even about hens that had some broody genetics, let alone production hens without those genetics.

As far as I'm concerned the only way to control if and especially when you can hatch eggs is with an incubator.

 

[MariusJooste]

Broody hens are not productive. They don't lay eggs and require special handling, so most broody hens are removed from the breeding flock with production breeds. After a few generations you get a flock where hens don't often go broody. On the other hand, if you hatch eggs from a hen that goes broody her daughters often will. You can control that with breeding. I managed to breed a flock where every hen went broody at least once a year, many of them multiple times. It was too much, they spend more time in the broody buster than laying eggs.

Your production hens won't go broody often, though occasionally one will. But I sure wouldn't count in it, it is really unlikely. Brahma and Black Australorp will sometimes go broody. A rooster does not go broody himself but he can pass on the genetics if he has them. If you can get pullets from that cross they have a better chance of going broody than their mothers. I'd still consider it a low chance so not a lot of realistic hope there, but at least better.

I've read different theories on how to make a hen go broody. One is to let the eggs (real of fake) stack up in a nest. The thought is that once a hen sees a large bunch of eggs she'll go broody. I've tried that a few times in a flock where some of the hens do occasionally go broody and it never worked.

It's been a lot of years since I read this one. Somebody said if you lock a hen in a very dark nest for two of three days she will go broody. I never tried that, it seemed too cruel and inhumane. So I can't say for sure it doesn't work but I'd have serious doubts even about hens that had some broody genetics, let alone production hens without those genetics.

As far as I'm concerned the only way to control if and especially when you can hatch eggs is with an incubator.

Thank you so much
I decided to rather opt to fix the incubator and raise the replacement pullets from there. Sounds like the less intrusive and more watertight method